Recently, I received a message on instagram from an account I had never heard of asking whether I could help them out. They had been let down at the last minute by a photographer and needed someone to take photos of some instagram influencers at a “trendy restaurant” that afternoon. When asking for their budget and expected deliverables they told me that it was a collaboration and I shouldn’t expect to get paid - and asked if I knew who the influencers were. After explaining that I’m a professional photographer, they laughed at me and told me I didn’t have a clue.