TES 26/8/19 TES 26/8/19

How to plan a photoshoot

As a small ( or not so small ) business owner / creative there will perhaps come a time to consider hiring a professional photographer for a photoshoot. Whether it’s for a headshot / portrait, product photography for your website or social media, a market stall application, event photography, pitch to a magazine… but where do you begin?

There are many things to consider - including choosing the actual photographer, but first up is usually the budget - what can you afford? Perhaps you have the $’s to fly to the Maldives with a team of stylists, models and make-up artists - but realistically, most of us don’t!

Costs

After you’ve established your rough budget, most photographers will work in hourly or half day / full day rates. Their rates are usually dependant on their skill and experience, plus post production and editing time on your chosen images.

Communication with your chosen photographer is key - from the outset, know what you want and whether it is achievable in the time frame that meets your budget. Shooting 50 products in 2 locations in 1 hour is unlikely!

Licensing of images

There are usually licensing or usage costs per image - this will vary from photographer to photographer and the client. For example, the terms of usage for a big brand’s large scale advertising campaign would generally cost more than a small business product shoot. There may be usage limitations on the images, and a smaller usage will often equate to a smaller fee. Some examples of usage are:

Usage for social media content only.
Photography for use in a packaging / element of a new product or that will be a product for resale.
Photography of your business / product for your website and branding.

Some photographers may also set a time frame limitations in licensing. One example is that you might have usage of those images for 12 months, then they will be available for you to re-license for an additional time and fee. Or they will give you total rights to those images for 6-12 months and then after that the photographer may license the images to another company or magazine.

How to find a photographer

Unless you have a good friend or a family member that is a professional photographer, it can be difficult to know where to start. Word of mouth is usually the easiest way - ask around your network. There are also many creative networking groups online where you can post a job and then go through the photographers profile/ website. Another good way is to look on social media at other brands/ imagery that you like and see who they have used. Many will include a photographer’s credit on a shoot.

Questions to ask/ things to think about prior to booking a shoot

Location: Where will the photo shoot take place? Is it in your own home/ office/ studio? Does the photographer work from their own studio? Will your shoot be on location, in a public space?

Some locations require permits for a photo shoot, with approval and payment prior to the shoot taking place. As an example, see Heide Museum which has requirements for using their site. With this in mind, is the location/ studio hire an additional cost to add into your budget ? Is the location out of town, and will it incur an additional photographer’s travel fee?

Props: Will you be sourcing the props / backdrops yourself or will you be employing a stylist ? A photographer will often have an existing supply of props or backdrops, however there may be a need for prop hire for flowers, food, additional products, plinths etc. Who will supply what ? Can you borrow items from friends ? Many retail shops will also hire furniture and props for a fee.

Create a brief: What exactly are you after ? Try to include any image examples/ sketches /mood board /colour /vibe etc. Pinterest is a great tool for this. Here’s an example of a food mood board I created recently.

Set a time frame: Do you require the images under a tight deadline? Most photographers will have a 1-2 week turnaround on post production of images, if not longer. If you need images ASAP, there may be an additional fee.

Know what you want, so that you can communicate your needs to your photographer, then they can provide a quote.

Here’s an example…

I was approached via email to shoot a product range of 5 new artwork prints, with the possibility of photographing the existing range if time permitted. I met in person with the business owner of Gussy - Simone (who agreed to me including this shoot here) to discuss further and to provide a quote.

Considerations were her budget, the time required for the shoot - we agreed upon a half day / 4 hour shoot. The chosen location was her home interior, utilising 6 different rooms. Each artwork required individual styling, using props from her home, my collection or borrowed from friends. So additional costs were minimal. We set ourselves the target of photographing her entire range of 18 prints in 4 hours, prioritising the new edition prints. We discussed that the images were for her website and social media/ promotion.

We created a Pinterest board and Simone organised a shot list, including which artworks would hang where within her home and with what props to suit each artwork, so time was not wasted on the day.

Here are some of the images from the shoot:

One thing to also consider with image usage is that we shoot in either and landscape or portrait mode, however posting to Instagram or your website design may be square - so images will need to be cropped. Remember to discuss this as an option in your usage/ editing or composition at the shoot. Also websites such as Shopify have their own file specifications / colour management.

Find a Photographer you can work and communicate with, ask questions - it may seem daunting, but most of us are nice!!!

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Natalie Jeffcott is a professional freelance photographer - specialising in editorial, interiors, small business lifestyle and product photography.

All images by Natalie Jeffcott.

http://www.nataliejeffcott.com/

TES 26/4/18 TES 26/4/18

Collaboration story: A fresh dining space on a tight budget

Our most recent Melbourne Members' Morning Tea was held in the brand new Free to Feed dining space in Northcote. It was a unique event for our event host and Board member Yvonne Meng, as her architecture firm, Circle Studio - that she runs with fellow CWC Member Amber Laing - was the creative force behind the design of the interior fitout!

Yvonne Meng and Amber Laing of Circle Studio Architects in their completed interior fitout for Melbourne social enterprise Free to Feed.

We spoke to Yvonne about the project, the challenges of working on a tight budget for a social enterprise, and what they learned through the process.

What’s your architecture specialty and why were you drawn to work with Free to Feed?
We aren't bound to a particular typology but we try to take a collaborative approach to design. Amber and I like to work closely with people to make sure their project reflects them well. I was drawn to Free to Feed because Loretta and Dan have such a passion for their work, and it's really infectious. What attracted me most were the initiatives do with refugees and new migrants. Being the child of migrants myself, I remember seeing how difficult it was for my parents in the 80's to make sense of a new country and navigate work. I love that an organisation like Free to Feed exists to empower, provide entrepreneurial support and help people have agency in what they do within a community.

Before: What the space looked like when the lease was signed

What was the brief for the fitout and what mood/vibe were you aiming for?
The brief was to create a space which could be used in a variety of ways from sit down dinners, casual lunches, displaying and selling spices, presentations, workshops, cooking classes and more. It also had to be able to be packed away when needed, and there needed to be enough flexibility for the space to evolve as Free to Feed grows. For this, we designed modular trestle-style benches and fold-down tables which can be cleared out of the way or re-arranged as needed. Keeping the cooking classes in mind, we needed to bring power to the centre of the space. To do this neatly we adapted some light fittings to hold power points instead of globes so they were practical as well as decorative. When we sat down to discuss the mood and vibes we were hoping to achieve, we were drawn to this one particular image on our shared Pinterest board of a spice market with lovely earthy tones, pinks, and terracottas. This became the basis for the palette which ran through the interior and the aim was to create a workspace which was warm, bright and also a bit playful.

What strategies did you employ to get the most out of a social enterprise budget?
Free to Feed were lucky to have received some very generous donations from people who believed in their work. Anchor Ceramics provided 10 terracotta pendant fittings, and Spencer Harrison painted the mural on the wall. Without these, the space as it is would not have been possible. We needed bang for buck for this project and paint is such a great cost-effective way to transform a space, so to help differentiate zones we used blocks of colour on the walls which picked up on the colours in the mural and light fittings. The benches are cut from full off-the-shelf sheets of ply and dimensioned so that there was minimal cutting required and no offcuts. Unless it was absolutely necessary, we tried not to move any plumbing, gas, and electrical and we repaired the wall linings instead of ripping them off. Luckily for us, underneath the laminated floor of the original shop was a fabulous terrazzo flooring which was still in good nick.

Were there any special considerations/challenges?
Time was a challenge on this one. There was a very short period to get the design and drawings done, appoint builders and then get the thing actually built. The builders, Ampson Developments, programmed the works really well and kept things going at lightning speed to hit the completion date. From our side, we issued general drawings at the beginning - enough to get a quote on and get started - and then developed details simultaneously as construction occurred to save on time. Projects like these really make you appreciate the value of having a good collaborative team who are communicative and on the same page. The finished space did differ a little from the original concept as things had to fall away or change, but that's normal for any project! It reached completion just in the nick of time - the day after the builders moved out was the first dinner event.

What did you learn through the process?
You don't need need to make drastic structural changes to make a statement when working with existing buildings. Work with the bones that you've got - do little, but do it well. You can achieve a lot with a small budget that way!

'Before' photos by Yvonne. 'After' photos by fellow CWC Member, Jade Cantwell.