This topic came up during a discussion in my Australian Cosplay Photographer's Discord- Thankyou to Ham Photography for starting the discussion <3

There is a great deal of debate in what to charge, if at all, for cosplay photography. As in every passion, every hobby monetised into a business or profession, there comes the guilt of charging for something you enjoy doing, and the burnout of approaching such as a job is inevitable.

We as a community talk in great detail about how to not undercut one another, and how to respect and value the worth of your own art- but there is always another unspoken consideration of balancing how to make cosplay photography accessable to younger cosplayers, newer cosplayers, or less well-off cosplayers; without also being taken advantage of.

Undercutting is a regular conversation topic amoungst the cosplay photography community, if a slightly awkward one to navigate; as most topics involving money amoungst creatives tend to be. If there is one thing that truly unites us, it is that we loathe having to respect our own art enough to place a fair value upon it.

Undercutting in an artistic community refers to pricing your work lower (or free) than most work of equal value in an attempt to become the 'cheapest option'. This is understandable and even encouraged in the world of business, but within artistic communities is frowned upon and seen as contributing to the public opinion of that work's value being brought down- 'I can get this for cheaper over there, why are you charging this much?'. Undercutting devalues the community as a whole, and forces others to lower their own prices to keep up- a rapid way to ensure an entire community undervalues and undercharges themselves just to stand a chance.

In my opinion, there are more ways to undercut within this community than just in price, but that might be a topic for another day.

I cannot promise to give perfect, cut-and-paste advice for every situation this question applies to. I am still working out how to price my own work, how to justify charging what actually totals to far below minimum wage for something I pour my heart and soul into creating. It's hard, and it becomes harder the more you turn over the same questions.

The way I personally approach a lot of monetary decisions in cosplay photography is to consider 3 seperate aspects, all of which pull away from each other- Making my work accessible, not undercutting my community, and not being taken advantage of. In my own pricing format, the money I charge is less a payment towards myself and more of a symbolic message- I am worth this, please acknowledge the work I put into this art form. I only want to work with people who value my art enough to want to pay what I charge, and if they are unable to realistically do such I am happy to worrk out how to still reach a compromise.

Working for free on occasion is fun, and fulfilling- I get to meet people I otherwise wouldn't, I get to create without preassure, I get to remember why I love this art form.

But working for free will also more often than not attract the kinds of people who value your art not as work but convenience- People who would not pay money for a shoot, people who do not understand the work that goes into such and usually do not want to understand. I never again want to work with people who think what I do could be done by anybody that can hold a camera.

I can set prices and balance finances and stress over my business all I want, this isn't about making money and never has been. I charge for photoshoots because I want to work with people who want *me* as their photographer, not just somebody with a camera.