Hello all I am a new photographer wanting to dip my toe in brand / fashion photography. From my Internet research the best way to get started with that kind of photography is too cold pitch emails to different brands. Well I have been doing this I wanted to possibly get some questions answered before I cook the ball movie want anything? Any brand photographer pls feel free to help 😭
- When it comes to models do you pay them? Are they payed for by the brand? How does that work? Because I just assumed I would gather my friends together but as I work on the bigger scale projects I assume that models want to get compensated.
- What is the average price for a beginner photographer the charger brand for a shoot ? And what would be expected of the brand to provide for free or not? (products, etc.)
- How do you go about pitching to brands in different locations that you are not living in. As I found a lot of brands are based in New York and Los Angeles or just major metropolitan areas and although there are some brands in where I reside currently not much. I was wondering if it was plausible to be almost shooting remotely alongside brands.
- Lastly, any brand photographers comfortable sharing any stories about their first couple brand shoots and how the experience went as a whole, because again I have never done this before but it’s a photography I have a strong interested and want to explore.
Thanks in advance 💖!
Firstly, big brands don’t hire people starting out in the business.
You build a body of work doing small shoots that show your own unique style over many years. You get an agent who will represent you and contact advertising agencies to promote your work.
With small gigs when starting out for lesser know brands, you will probably do all the hiring. Models, makeup artist, hair stylist, set designer etc. In this scenario you will have priced everything and submitted that with the contract.
When you get into the big league , you will walk in with your assistant, have a coffee while they set up your gear, then, once everyone else is ready, you step up and take the pictures and make real money.
As a beginner you start by finding small local designers and asking for some of their designs to shoot. You show them what you have done so far, usually friends or local models, and if the designer likes your work they will usually say yes because it’s free advertising for them. (Yes you do it for free). You then reach out to the local modeling agency (more likely a model mill) and ask if they have any new talent in need of portfolio images. If they don’t, then you will have to hire one or two for the shoot at their current rates.
You will want someone tall, and slim, usually a sample size so size 0-4 who has some inkling as to what they are doing as you probably don’t have a lot of experience directing models, and you are paying by the hour. You will need to hire hair and makeup people as well. Those people get the shit end of the stick all the time so don’t try to take advantage of them, pay their rates.
Building a career in fashion is extremely difficult, and a lot of it is being in the right place and knowing the right people. You start by making contacts in the business, being professional, always showing up on time, and delivering the images quicker than expected. I started by making contacts first in the pit at the local fashion week, which because of my work led to me being an official the following year, then I had access to more designers and models. I became the head photographer a few seasons later and I was shooting paid gigs for a lot of the designers, but it’s pocket money, not big bucks because they don’t have advertising budgets to pay you out of. I even shot for a few major retail brands, but because of my location I was never going to shoot the really big stuff. It was all for local advertising like a new store opening in the city so they wanted something shot that was recognisable in that city. I know people who moved to the major cities believing they were going to be flooded with business only to come home a year or two later broke and disillusioned. That’s why I stayed local.
Unless you live in NY, or LA your chances of ever working with a major brand is almost nil unless you develop a massive social media presence that makes them want to work with you over their established photographers, and that’s like trying to make it to be a quarterback in the NFL. Only so many spots and a lot of people wanting those spots.
So do it, but do it for fun, not as a business.