This will be a great addition to your portfolio!
Ah yes, that phrase. It sounds about as convincing as "The shoot will take two hours max" or "The location is easy to find." It's the faithful harbinger of what inevitably follows: "Payment? No, but you'll get the photos!" Really? The photos? From my own shoot? How generous!
Do you know this species of photographer too? The ones whose ego is bigger than their longest focal length, who consider themselves undiscovered geniuses of visual composition, but disappear faster than a battery in sub-zero temperatures at the mention of "model fees"?
The calculation is actually as simple as a pinhole camera's shutter: if you want professional services, you need to handle them professionally. Nobody tells their dentist: "Hey, do some drilling! Payment? Nah, but you can use my teeth as a reference in your Instagram story!"
Of course, mutual favors among creatives exist. The good old time-for-print approach has its place — when both sides benefit and this is clearly communicated from the start. I occasionally do such projects myself.
But when I book a model for a job, it's not a friend request — it's a business relationship.
The other side of the coin: Currently, I'm witnessing a real surge in fee expectations. Newcomer models quote hourly rates that would make even a beauty surgeon in Monaco seem modest. Apparently, there's only a fine line between "exposure" and delusions of grandeur.
My position is clear: When I book a model, I pay a fair fee. This isn't about generosity — it's about professionalism and respect. At the same time, I expect a more realistic assessment of one's market value than "I once held a handbag for the camera."
Perhaps we should all take a step back (further than when photographing an extended family) and ask ourselves: What really makes us who we are? Is it really the number of zeros on the invoice? Or isn't it rather the quality of our work, reliability, and yes, how we treat each other?
At the end of the day, we're all doing the same thing: creating images. And they only turn out truly good when everyone involved works together with respect and as equals — not when someone photographs from atop the ladder of their own overestimation.