If this happens a lot you could put your prices on your portfolio site under “book me” or how you want to call it. Dont forget to put a small asterix with the variable prices like transportation costs per mile or km. For every hour spend photographing I spend an hour in post processing so I put those together for the ease of the client.

A tip I have gotten before is to be more transparent by showing every cost in your bill. F.e. maintenance costs, subscription costs, etc. They might be more understanding.

Never and I shoot Sony and switch primes a lot.

Concert photography is probably the worst sector if you want to get paid. Here in Belgium it’s almost all voluntary work. Even people I know from organisations like ‘Concert Photographers United’ and ‘Dansende Beren’ don’t get paid.

There are exceptions like if the band pays you to tour with them. A newspaper pays you to shoot a concert. Or become a paid in-house photographer for a concert hall. Selling prints is probably your best bet. They might not be gatekeeping, they might not get paid themselves.

Yes.

Watermarks don’t protect anything and they never did. They are more of an advertising tool. The moment you pressed that shutter button you have full copyright on the image. When people steal your work you contact your local Collective Management Organization to file a claim. In Belgium we have SOFAM for example. English is not my first language so idk if I’m using the right English term.

If you are really worried you could look up how much it is to replace and then devide it by 300. Each session you could charge your client that few dollars or that few cents extra (depending how expensive it is) as “gear maintenance costs". Keep that on the side that when it’s time to get it repaired, then you don’t have to worry about money. It’s probably gonna be just 1 dollar extra per session. I hope this can give you a peace of mind.

It takes practice but you can do it. When you notice people you want to take a picture from it’s for a specific reason right. For example they have a cool style or outfit. When you approach them you explain that you are a photographer and would love to take a photo of them for the reason you decided before but say it in a compliment. Like “wow I really love your style because x”. If they don’t buy it then show your socials or portfolio. If they say no just say no problem and have a great day. After the mini shoot you could give them your business card so they can reach out if they want the photo and it’s a great way to get some person to person advertising.

I did that multiples times. Start with people you know, personally or vaguely, who are photographers or videographers. If that fails then Google photographers in your area. Google maps is handy for that. Mail around until a fish bites.

I haven’t done weddings yet but I know wedding photographers always need a little extra help.