Shooting for Free “Just for Exposure” and Other Financial Fairy Tales

Hello fellow pilots! I wish you very good flights on this day. Today we’re going to talk about a subject that I know very, very well. And it’s kind of a tragicomedy. Why? Because at the very beginning you see it as an opportunity (spoiler alert: it’s far from it) and then, when you realize the true colors of it, you just laugh every time someone offers it to you.

Im going to give you some “exposure” of my history

If you (still) don’t know (or remember) my story—because I’ve only told it thirty times in my previous articles—here it comes: I studied Law in Venezuela, but before that, I put my hands on an old but shiny Canon T-60, my first SLR. Since I got that beauty, I knew I wanted to be behind a camera for most of my life. I wanted others to see the beauty that I could find through my viewfinder. So, before being anything else, I am a photographer.

And as a photographer, I know firsthand about the butterheads who just want to pay you in “exposure.”

A beginner’s tale

You know, when you’re just a beginner (photographer, videographer, chef, dancer, drone pilot, video editor), most of us didn’t have enough confidence in ourselves. And they (the butterheads) know that. And they will use that against you like a heat-seeking missile targeting your insecurities.

Yeah, they’re everywhere. Disguised as a wedding planner, the organizer of events for your city, or the admin of a webpage or Facebook group. Sometimes it’s someone close to you, but not so close. Why? Because they don’t have any respect for you or your work. At least your family asks you nicely (and gives you likes on Instagram).

These exposure evangelists have perfected their pitch like a well-rehearsed flight plan. They’ll tell you about the “incredible opportunity” to work with their “amazing brand” (which usually has fewer followers than your neighbor’s cat). They’ll paint pictures of future riches while conveniently forgetting that bills don’t pay themselves with Instagram hearts and LinkedIn endorsements.

Sometimes we just don’t need exposure

Here’s the thing about exposure: if someone dies from it in the mountains, it’s usually not a good thing. The same principle applies to your creative career.

You have two different courses of action when you find this predator out in the wild.

First: If they tell you that you can do the work and that you’re going to win “exposure,” ask them in which supermarket they received exposure as a form of payment. Because, you know, you really enjoy buying food and drone batteries with actual money, not with likes and shares. If they ask you to work for a really, really cheap amount of money and promise that after this job they’ll give you more work (yeah, right), make this counterproposal: tell them that you’re going to give them a 2-for-1 offer. If your usual fee is, let’s say, 300 bucks for three hours of photography, charge them the full amount now, and in the next job (the one that will never materialize) they’ll receive that delicious discount.

I like to tell these folks that my landlord is very old-fashioned and still insists on being paid in that ancient currency called “money.” Weird, right?

Have you though of the imposter syndrome?

But the first and most important action is to prevent. How? Working on yourself. In this audiovisual creative world where we work, it’s too easy to fall into the imposter syndrome trap—where we think that we’re subpar. And we’re far from that. Once we work on our self-esteem, we can decide which work we can give for free.

And that’s true—I have fallen into the “exposure” trap when I was young. But after many lessons learned, I can tell you that I have made A LOT of free work. Without exposure in my mind. Sometimes it was to help, sometimes for fun, but most of the time it was for practicing and creating a better portfolio TO SELL my services. Because the ones paying for your work are the ones who really deserve it.

Think of it this way: would you fly a drone for free just because someone promised to tell their friends about how well you pilot? Of course not! Your skills, your equipment, your time—they all have value. Just like you wouldn’t give away your drone to someone who promises to “give it exposure” by flying it around the neighborhood.

The harsh truth is that clients who genuinely value your work will pay for it without hesitation. Those who try to negotiate with exposure bucks are usually the same ones who’ll nitpick every detail and demand seventeen revisions because, hey, it’s “free” work.

Remember, every hour you spend working for exposure is an hour you could have spent building your real business, improving your skills, or—radical concept—earning actual money. Your future self will thank you for drawing that line in the sand early.

So establish your rates, stick to them, and watch how quickly the exposure seekers disappear when they realize you’re not running a charity. The clients who remain? Those are your people.

And you, when was the last time someone offered to pay you with “exposure”? Let me know in the comments—I’m always collecting new fairy tales for my entertainment.