When I started using it professionally after my high tech career, I didn’t really have a problem seeing myself as a legitimate photographer, but as in any business, raw skill doesn’t mean you know how to make a living at something. Doing photography and running a photography business are two different things. I had no experience in the latter, and that’s where my learning curve was. So, I went to a lot of conferences—Photoshop World, Nikon School, Outdoor Photographer, etc.—and was fortunate to find some well known photographers as mentors. In addition to learning some of the ins and outs of what it takes to make money in photography, I also learned a great deal about finessing my exposure and composition in various situations. Essentially, I learned a lot about what I didn’t know about photography, and what I needed to work on to be considered competent in the professional world.

My view is legitimacy in any field is a combination of knowledge, skill, experience and a good body of work you can display. Validation helps too, if you can acquire a series of testimonials about work you’ve done. If I were you, I would:
- subscribe to every big graphic design blog/magazine/forum/etc. you can find.
- find stuff you can’t do
- figure out how it’s done
- figure out what you don’t know
- get training in your weak areas
- go to conferences and meet people better than you
- keep doing small projects along the way
- blog your work

And yes, charge for it. If they’re not satisfied (for legitimate reasons) offer a refund, or a redo if you think you can do it differently. What’s given for free has no value, and your time is valuable if nothing else. Get testimonials from your “clients” (as you framed them above) and put them on your blog. (See how I did mine here.)

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can help further!

Did you have trouble seeing yourself as a legitimate photographer and charging accordingly when you first started out?

P.S. I LOVE the surrealistic shots.
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