Photographer Appreciation Month on October, 2024: should you tip the photographer who takes your baby portraits?

October, 2024 is Photographer Appreciation Month 2024. National Photographer Appreciation Month – An Open Letter photographer appreciation

I am a professional photographer. It is not necessary to tip your photographer, but if you do get the pictures back and they are fantastic and you had a great experience and you would like to show your appreciation, then go ahead and send a thank you card with a small tip.

should i put my photography on facebook?

To develop in photography (and other fields) you need criticism ... either positive or negative. The problem with FB is that the people there know you and so will tell you you are the greatest photographer in the world. Ansel Adams? Bah! He's a hack compared to you.

I'm fairly certain that's not the case.

You need to post those pics where other photographers (photogs you don;t personally know) go to critique pictures. Join a photo club, ours has a photography appreciation session once a month and one slideshow (5 slides per photog max) a month on top of going on outings with models or to do landscapes/nature (once a month for both).

Just please! Don't post your pics here asking "What do you think of my photography?" it's actually technically against the ToS of Y!A.

The other problem is that FB keeps changing it's ToS and trying to appropriate the content that people post on it. Oh and when you put a picture on there, you automatically grant them a licence to use it for their own NEFARIOUS purposes ... ok so I added the nefarious there for shock effect but still you do grant them a liscence to do whatever the heck they want.

What job(s) do you have?

My husband is a photographer (A GREAT ONE!) & its so HARD to make money at it, I'm a professional artist, & I'm sure you've heard the phrase "starving artist"? We're living proof of it. My husband is an electronics engineer, he hates it, but it IS a necessity, I can't work because of health reasons, so he has it doubly hard (providing for both of us AND our addiction to art supplies =).

What should make you feel better is that there is no other more fulfilling job or hobby then being an artist/photographer! If you have to work secularly in something else in order to fund your passion for art, its worth it. Its hard! But its worth it. There are jobs you can get that are in the art field, like working in an art gallery (what I used to do, though I hated selling other people's art that was nowhere near as good as mine, most of the artists & their work were great... & I got a lot of appreciation for the art community in my area that way too, plus I got a paycheck which helped me buy more supplies! =) You can work at art supply stores (which offer discounts when you work there!) Look for part time work in art departments in schools & colleges. One way to get your name out there & possibly make money DOING what you love is check out online photography contests, there's millions of artists/photographers out there, some good, some awful, & we're all trying to do the same thing, but once in a while we hit the mark & win a contest or get asked to do a custom piece of work, & talk about inspiring when it does happen. Google "photography contests" & the like, you'll get tons of results, join them, even the ones that don't offer good prizes, its recognition! Even facebook contests are good!

Also, look at Fine Art America (FAA) , its a GREAT site for artists/photographers. Its something like $36 a year for a site, & you can upload as much of your work as you want, they do the advertising, & sell YOUR work on their prints/canvas' & cards. There's groups & even contests! Its worth checking out.

My husbands FAA site:

My site on FAA:

My husband has sold some of his work, its possible, not enough to support him/us, but enough to keep up our habits! Ha! Just don't give up, no matter what you end up doing for work, don't give up your love of photography!

Hey, would you mind looking at this self-portrait art contest I'm in & voting for me? You don't have to sign up for anything, just click on the stars in the upper right hand corner. You can vote every day until April 19th, winner gets $2500 for the people's choice award! (See what I mean about contests? Plus even if I don't win, its good exposure!) I'd appreciate any & all your votes! If you vote every day for me & get everyone you ever met to vote for me every day for me I'll buy you lunch! =} Happy meals on me! THANK YOU!!!