This January will be our 13th year in business and over the years as a photographer I am asked time and time again to provide services for a variety of businesses and their events – from not for profits, local fairs to radio stations to clubs. The prevailing theme?

Can you work our event for “free”, for “a sponsorship naming” or to “give a donation”? 

In my line of work I often do work for causes I believe in, shoot stock (which means no sales are guaranteed) and donate sessions but each time I do so I choose to offer the services. We are encouraging you to think about events and services differently. Why? Because how you present information to a service provider is key to any partnership paid or in kind.

Choice. That is the key hallmark to how to approach creatives when using them.

Ultimately every event should have a budget to cover the basic services needed to run that event including the venue, the meals, the staff, the decorations, the swag, the marketing, the event licence (and more) and yes the creatives to film or photograph the event. Every bag, paper clip, candy bar, swag and more should all be in your budget.

Be it a for profit or not for profit the base costs should never be covered on the shoulders of another business or business services.

If you are hoping for savings through services or donations this should be something offered as a secondary option to any services (albeit creative or food or other). We have a budget of “x” but should you be “in a position to offer the services” we can offer “sponsorship” (or similar). This is essential as in the current economic climate many businesses are hanging on by a thread as costs have increased 60% since the pandemic, people are holding onto their money more tightly and overall there just isn’t a lot of work out there.

Is what you are offering valuable?

A few years ago I was asked to help with a radio station event in exchange for radio ads. As a photographer I was gobsmacked as my business is visual and a radio ad isn’t of any value to a small local photographer. I sell services based on my own reliability and the visuals I produce. Not seeing the product makes the radio ad of no value to my marketing strategy and I had by this time built up brand recognition based on my purple colour and vibrant imagery. None of that would come through across the airwaves.

Similarly I was asked to cover an event (no other information provided) or to provide the name of a student who could. When I pointed out that a) I had 12 years under my belt and was not a student and the b) the student also deserves a living wage the response was predictable. How could a student or myself not want to be the event photographer at this event where 200 couples would be looking for a photographer?

I assume it was a wedding show. I would counter that fact means nothing to the photographer as they would not be showcasing their work to the couples but instead engaged in a service that strongly benefited the person running the show.

Side Note: I am not in the business of providing students clients who do not value the work we do.

Know your worth. In fact shout it from the rooftops, the cost of doing business is valuable if you want to be around for 13 years.

Requests like these are plentiful – but so are the voices of senior creatives who tell our students and other professionals there is nothing wrong with knowing your worth.

Did you know that if a creative charges $300 a session they would have to do 5 a week for 50 weeks to make a gross wage of $50K less expenses. With the average yearly expenses for a viable photography business running 15-20K they would be making a mere $30K per year. Add in the fact creatives rarely have benefits or RRSP contributions – the cost of running a business must account for making a living wage and then some. 

Compare that to the poverty line in Canada for a single person is $27,624 (using Toronto) and for a family our four $57,531 (also using Toronto). So it is no exaggeration when we quote pricing that creatives are asking for the amount that allows us not only to survive but to thrive.

Support your creatives.

Always provide a budget when engaging creative services – if you cannot afford to run an event without free services it might be time to pause and go back to the drawing board.

Hire a professional today.

We pride ourselves in the work we do and the client partnerships we have. Some of my longest standing partnerships started with the simple steps of providing a budget, a scope of work clearly laying out the time and services needed and a signed contract. What we have both gotten is a long lasting relationship telling amazing stories and enjoying great projects in tandem with one another. 

On the flip side I choose a few spaces and events to provide my services pro-bono to raise money for my three boys schools, my local Rotary Club on occasion and events that raise awareness for domestic violence or support second homes for dogs such as The Animal Guardian Society (TAGS).

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Kirsten McGoey, Visual Storyteller and CEO of Trinity Design Photography