Top 10 questions to ask your product photographer
When most creative business owners are starting out they often start by taking photographs of the products by themselves. Its a huge part of the process of launching your handmade business and almost a right of passage. But as your handmade business grows, you might find that there aren’t enough hours in the day and that you struggle to juggle all the balls you need to juggle and wear all the hats you wear when building and growing a thriving creative business.
Why outsourcing can help you grow your handmade business
One of the first areas many handmade business owners think about outsourcing is their product and brand photography. Let’s face it, photography can take a long time when you have to:
Source on-brand background and props
Creatively style the products to create a cohesive and impactful visual style for your brand
Buy the right equipment (camera, lenses, lights etc)
Plan your photoshoot
Setup your styled setups
Shoot the products
Edit the photos
So outsourcing at least some of your product and brand photography often makes sense so that you have time to do what you love doing best - making and creating and serving your customers.
But it is so important to find a photographer that not only specialises in product and brand photography, but that also really gets your brand, your brand values and what you stand for.
Key questions to ask a product photographer
How many products will be shot?
You want to know how much ‘bang’ you get for your buck.
Now every shoot is different - a different number of products will need photographing, each brand will want a slightly different blend of types of photo and so on. But being clear on the overall number of photographs to expect from the shoot is essential so that you don’t receive your online gallery and feel disappointed.
Many product photographers offer packages based on number of products or number of styled setups. Often taking the total cost of the shoot, dividing by the total number of photographs you expect to receive with give you the cost per image which can be a useful way of looking at it.
Do you offer pre-shoot styling consultations?
Particularly with a styled shoot it is essential to talk to your photographer either face to face or on the phone so that you are both clear on what the brief is, what the intended purpose of the photos is and the look and feel you want to achieve with your imagery.
You are investing in your business when you commission someone to take photographs of your products and so you want to make sure that you really get the most out of that investment. If you just leave it to the photographer to style your products without having a conversation you risk a mis-communication about the look and feel you are going for. The more preparation done upfront including a consultation call can pay dividends in terms of the final outcome of the shoot.
How many styled product photos can you expect to get?
Having a rough idea on how many photos you are likely to receive is so important. There is nothing worse than expecting a lovely, large catalogue of photos only to receive a bijoux collection of photos. Understanding the minimum number of photos you can expect and whether you select a set number from the online gallery within your photography package or whether you get the entire gallery is essential.
is your photographer insured?
Your handmade products are valuable and you want to know that if the worst happens when they are in transit or with the photographer they will be fully insured.
What does the photographer’s fee include?
Product photographers typically charge by the hour, the day (or half-day), the photo or the product. It is important to find out how your potential photographers charge for their services, and use the refer cost per-image rate calculation to do a cost comparison.
What is and isn’t included in the shoot fee?
You also want to know what exactly is and isn’t included in the package fee. Key things to understand in terms of what is included in the fee for a styled shoot includes:
Props
Styling
Photo Editing
Overtime if the shoot runs over
Photo editing
Online or printed proofs
Whether you will receive digital or print files (or both)
Whether you will receive your photos in high res (for print) and low res (for web) resolution
The number of photos the fee includes
Return postage
For model shoots whether the cost of the model is included
For model shoots whether the cost of hair, makeup and clothes is included
For model and brand shoots whether travel expenses are included.
This all helps you understand the full cost of a shoot and any potential extra costs you may incur.
What’s your experience in this industry?
This is so important. You may love a photographer’s style and the way they capture light, but if they are not experienced in photographing products or shots on a model you might not get the results you hope for. Capturing products sometimes requires specialist equipment and is an art form in itself. That being said, many photographers have many strings to their bow so do ask for examples of commercial photography they have done for previous Clients as this will give you an idea of the work the can produce for commercial Clients.
What are the rights to the photos?
It is essential to establish the usage rights for the photos. Photographers typically retain the copyright of their creative property, but you — as the paying client — are entitled to use the photos for the marketing and promotion of your business be it on your website, social media or printed assets.
It is worth sharing with your Photographer how you intend to use the photos. Photographers also use that information as they’re determining the quote and you want to be sure that the agreement protects both parties.
What do you need to give the photographer?
Working with a photographer for your business is a partnership. Your photographer should be skilled at asking questions of you that helps to extract the right information from you to feed into the shoot. They will often use questionnaires, consultation calls and visual prompts like mood boards to do this.
Spending a bit of time before speaking to a photographer to understand how many products you need shot, the aspect ratio (cropping), the file resolution and what you intend to use the photos for is a great start.
And then responding quickly to questions from your photographer, getting your products to them in good time and asking whatever questions you may have should lead to a fantastic experience.
What is your availability?
It is always good to ask what the timescales are likely to be. In terms of shoot dates and how long it will take afterwards to receive your photos. Good product photographers often get booked up well in advance so being clear on the timescales involved particularly if you have specific deadlines is essential.
Above all, it pays dividends to be clear on what you want and need, and communicate in a way that ensures you and your photographer are on the same page, be that via email, on the phone, on Zoom, via a mood board etc. Because this communication will ensure that you get some jaw dropping imagery that is totally on-brand and does what you need it to do.
And if you are interested in having some styled product photography done then do check out my Styled Photography Packages.
But if you aren’t sure which of my packages would work best for you, I offer all potential Clients a no obligation discovery call.