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!!!

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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/

How to prioritise when you're a solo business owner

When you’re a solo business owner you’re a one-man-band playing the drums, guitar, keyboard and singing all at once. It’s hard to keep the juggling act in the air and know where to start on your long list of competing tasks.

I always find knowing what to prioritise is the hardest thing about working for myself. But I’ve picked up some tips over the years that help sort out the ‘ticked that off my to-do list’ feeling, as opposed to ‘I went down the rabbit hole on admin’ or ‘got completely bamboozled and decided to look at Instagram instead’. Yep, it happens to all of us.

So instead of feeling the guilts, try out these 5 tips and you’ll get to tick things off, as well as do those fun, yet highly distracting, sneak peeks at Instagram. 

1. Write a list

I’m a massive nerd when it comes to lists (or maybe that’s all the time!) I love getting it all down on paper and out of my head. In fact, I’ve been writing myself a daily to-do list each day of my work week for a very long time. There’s nothing more satisfying that crossing out what I’ve achieved that day. I don’t even stress myself out if something just moves from one day to the next, as I’ll know that wasn’t a real priority to get done that day and it will be a key priority for the next day. 

So if you write your to-do list, you’ll then instantly be able to see what the priorities really are and what doesn’t need to be done right now. Take advantage and push out the stuff that’s not as important until later in the week. This will hopefully save you from the overwhelm feels and keep you focused on achieving stuff each day.

2. Break up your time.

Something that Madeleine Dore from Side Project Sessions has introduced into my routine that I find really works, is the breakup of focussed work for 45-minutes with a 15-minute break. Breaks are important, so that you can get up and move around and have a cuppa and a snack and then get back into more focused time. I find this keeps my brain fresh and focused for longer and really helps me kick goals on my to-do list.

You might like to use a segmented time approach and give yourself blocks of time with short breaks – whether 25-minutes working with a 5-minute break or 60-minutes working and 10-minute break – find your groove and stick to it. Giving your brain (and body) a rest and a stretch. Getting away from the computer is a must-do with your breaks.

3. Top 3 tasks

Only having 3 top tasks that you need to complete each day, takes a big load off your mind. This is a great thing about migoals notebooks as they have this integrated into each page and they give you lots of tips on how to get more done. Awesome.

I find that if I nominate only one task for each of my 45-minute concentrated work sessions, I get a whole lot done in half a day, rather than moving from one small, unimportant task to the next. That way if you get your top 3 things done in the morning and out of the way, you can spend your afternoon doing that thing you really want to do. Laptop window shopping, anyone?

Or you can get even more nerdy and split your day into 3 x blocks of two hours where you focus on 3 long tasks to fill your day.

4. Breakdown larger projects

Sometimes I have large projects that can take months to work through. This is when I need to breakdown larger projects into tasks I need to do right now. So there’s nothing like a plan and a timeline to help you focus on what’s next and not stress about that thing that’s happening further down the track. 

I write on my to-do list the first few things, and only the next steps, that I need to do that day or week, so I don’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of a project. All big things are made up of a lot of little, tiny tasks that can become not so big if you work through it in this way.

5. Remove yourself from distractions 

As much as I love my house of furry creatures, they are not the best co-workers and don’t really let me get things done. I find getting out of the house and going to a cafe or co-working space is the best use of my time and allows me to really focus on my task. I find the buzz of people and background noise really motivating, but you might like the silence of a library.

If you work from home too, find some other spaces that work for you where you can remove yourself from distractions – a park on a sunny day, the library when it's pouring outside or a cosy cafe where people bring you pots of tea (yeah, that’s me!).

Depending on how you like to work, finding somewhere out of the home, where you can talk to some humans, other adults and just generally feel the vibe of other people does wonders for productivity. Well for me anyway!

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Sarah Lawrey is the owner of Collectus Studio, a Melbourne-based branding and graphic design studio. Creating beautiful brands for nice people with purpose, helping her clients achieve their branding goals, both visible and invisible.