Freeloader belittles a friend's 5-year profession as a photographer, demanding they work their wedding for free to "build their portfolio," they challenge their cheap attitude with facts: ‘I charge $1,000+ per wedding’

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jun 2, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

There's one thing you learn immediately when you start working in a service-based trade: Never work for free. For some reason, clients seem to think that providing a service is less important than buying goods. While a physical purchase may be unthinkable to attempt to haggle the price, entitled customers will almost always try to finagle a deal when it comes to paying for a service. 

Does a service job not merit the same respect as a traditional, cash-register purchase? 

This wedding photographer was no stranger to the swindlers and deal-grabbers of the wedding industry, and after over 5 years in their profession, they thought they'd seen it all. Until one fateful day when their college acquaintance demanded they work for free, belittling their entire trade and assuming a "hobbyist" like them would be willing to work 100s of hours in exchange for a free dinner and an Instagram shoutout. 

Advertisement
  • Cheezburger Image 10511465216
    via Yevhen
  • You're a photographer? So free pics for the wedding, right. SHORT So this just happened yesterday and I'm still fuming. I'm a
    via donalyn__
  • professional photographer and an acquaintance reaches out to me out of the blue and says she's getting married in two weeks and is so excited. After the usual fake small
    via donalyn__
  • talk, she says she remembered I do photography, she had seen my stuff on IG and it was super cute, so she was wondering if I would like to take their wedding pics!
    via donalyn__
  • I asked what her budget was, and she said they don't really have a budget for photos but she thought it would be a great chance for me to build my portfolio.
    via donalyn__
  • Mind you, I've been a professional photographer for 5 years, I charge $1,000+ per wedding, and my IG clearly shows over 80+ weddings I've done.
    via donalyn__
  • I politely said, Sorry, I'm already booked that weekend. I'm not, but whatever. She responds by saying she just thought since we were friends, I would be happy to help,
    via donalyn__
  • it's one day and I would get food and drinks. Then proceeded to say: Guess you're just about the money now. Kinda sad. Sad? Girl. You want me to spend 12
    via donalyn__
  • hours shooting your budgetless wedding, using thousands in gear, editing for weeks, all for a cold chicken dinner and what? From someone I barely speak to?
    via donalyn__
  • I didn't respond after that. Just blocked her. But seriously, what is with people thinking that creative work = free labor?
    via donalyn__
  • Cheezburger Image 10511465472
    via Yevhen
  • Fluffy_Newspaper_8 I'm pred just reading this. That's your profession.
    via Fluffy_Newspaper_8
  • Radiant-Cost-235 Happens in hair all the time too :( Once a friend cancelled her 2 first time color appts with me night before (her and her friend were getting balayages together) which took a HUGE chunk out of my
    via Radiant-Cost-235
  • schedule. The next morning, she texts me WITH PICTURES saying she had bought all kinds of supplies at Sally's. Her and this friend were going to do their own balayages at home, and she
    via Radiant-Cost-235
  • wanted me to walk each of them through it step by step. I just didn't respond, I was so taken aback by the audacity of it all. Needless to say, they f up. ed it
    via Radiant-Cost-235
  • WordsWatcher ⚫ The last time I was at Walmart getting groceries, the b'stard at the checkout wouldn't accept "exposure" and demanded money. Same at the car dealership. And the bar. What is wrong with these people? Don't they want to have a successful business?
    via WordsWatcher
  • shemp33 The flowers will di . The food will be eaten and digested. The drinks will pass through everyone's bodies. Literally everything else from the wedding will come and go, but the one thing... the ONE
    via shemp33
  • THING that will remain are the photos to capture the day and preserve the legacy for future generations. And that's the part that, two weeks prior to the wedding, is neither funded (budgeted) nor booked with a professional.
    via shemp33
  • SpikeProteinBuffy ⚫ I made a favor to a friend and photographed their band for free. It's a small band and I know they don't roll in money. Well they asked me again and I told them I'm busy for a few months so
    via SpikeProteinBuffy
  • sadly I don't have the time. They hired another photographer and paid that person. Ok, whatever guess they had some money and nobody was willing to do it for free. And later they asked me
    via SpikeProteinBuffy
  • again and I asked, do I get some payment like that another photographer. And my friend got mad at me for even asking! Apparently I was SO LUCKY to even get to photo them I shouldn't insult them by asking money.
    via SpikeProteinBuffy
  • Needless to say I'm not going to photograph them ever again. Not even if they would offer to pay me.
    via SpikeProteinBuffy
  • Fire_alarm_010622 She responds by saying she just thought since we were friends, I would be happy to help "If we were friends, I would've been invited to the wedding as a guest."
    via Fire_alarm_010622
  • Agitated-Bakery717. The additional entitlement of "oh, I'm so special just screw this other couple you booked and have a contract with. SMH
    via Agitated-Bakery717
  • jurassicjessc Ughhhhhh so frustrating! As a photographer, I feel this. I feel like it stems from the growing accessibility of cameras, but there definitely seems to be an increasing number of people that don't take photography seriously as a business.
    via jurassicjessc

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

professional wedding planning funny wedding photos Professional At Work friends cheapskate wedding career reddit thread Reddit vendor cheap weddings photographer
Scroll Down For The Next Article