Ever since I declared myself a professional photographer, I've had a number of family members approach me about working for them. Some of the family members ask how much it would cost to complete whatever job, and other family members assume it'll get done for free. Usually, my family members are somewhat disappointed when they find out I'm not willing to take photos for them at no cost. However, there are a number of reasons why I decided long ago I can't work for family members for free.

1) Creating photos takes time. The amount of time it takes to create photos is largely what affects my rates. Just because the person is a family member, doesn't mean it takes any less time. I'm still going to put 100% of my effort into creating a quality product for them. 

2) The time I set aside to work for a family member, there are other clients out there that I could be working for at full price. 

3) I can't really charge one family member and not the other. If I work for one family member for free, I'll most likely be expected to work for every family member for free. The most common things family members want me to shoot are weddings and senior portraits. Once you add up all of my family, plus Devan's, that's potentially thousands and thousands of dollars and probably days' worth of time spent editing. 

4) I have bills that I need money for. 

This post sounds somewhat negative and like I hate my family, but it's just an explanation of why I can't work for my family for free. I enjoy working with family members, and I usually give my family a discount of 50-75%. If I could work for all of my family for free, I would, but looking to the future, doing that much work for free would probably put me out of business. 

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