When we started sharing our offer for a “free” photoshoot, we were inundated with photographers who accused us of “devaluing” photography and training the consumer to expect to only pay photographers when they felt like it.

We understood where that was coming from: if all of us were only paid based on somebody else’s willingness to pay us something, that’s a scary place to be. We know some people may truthfully think our work is worth nothing when we’ve been pouring out our time (not to mention our heart and soul) into our work and this is especially true for photography, where a lot of people think the job is just “pressing a button.” It’s hard enough to make a living as an artist and this concept doesn’t seem to help.

That said, we’ve been in business now for over 5 years, and we’ve found:

• The average client spends almost $190 on photos from a 30 minute photo session. So even though they’re given a “free” offer, most people are not choosing to be cheap with their photos. An important note: this is a testament to the photographers on our platform and the quality of work they’re producing.

• Yes, our business has grown, but there are still so many other photographers out there with their own clients still running their own businesses. People are not flocking to us at the expense of other photographers; we see some clients use us for some occasions and then use other photographers at other times since our “free” sessions don’t necessarily suit every single occasion. Clients seem to understand our free offer only applies to our schedule of bookable events on our site which has limitations.

We also believe that when it comes to something like professional photography – it can feel cost-prohibitive, which discourages business. Our ultimate goal is to encourage people that might not otherwise have considered booking a professional photographer to try our service, enjoy the results, and to more frequently consider booking a professional photographer – whether through us or otherwise because they see the value they bring into their lives and we believe that providing an accessible pricing option helps introduce more clients into the industry.