Self-initiated Project. It’s been a long time coming, but I finally shot the assets needed for my Start-up Product Photography Package. The vast majority of the emails or Instagram DMs I receive are from small, or not-yet-existent brands looking to obtain imagery for their products so they can generate sales ASAP. There’s a few factors here that need consideration, if I am to continue fielding such requests. But what I want to focus on tackling with this specific package is time, because I lose hours of it every week to dead-end conversations. Here’s how I do that:

Budget – By setting an above average cost (for above average content, I might add), this filters out the frankly baffling number of people who are shocked to find out a professional photographer with a central London studio can’t compete with the price of a budget photographer shooting from the spare bedroom of their parent’s house. That might sound strangely specific, but it’s common!

Communication – With the main aspects of the photoshoot outlined by the package, the comms between a prospective client and myself can be much more streamlined. In my experience, the longer a pre-project conversation goes on, the more likely you are to be ghosted, or hit with a “I’ve found a cheaper option”, etc.

Photoshoot – With the compositions pre-set and the variables few, I can shoot each asset efficiently and precisely, which produces better work and I have much more fun doing it!

It’s always a joy shooting an iconic product, and the limitations of this shoot for the package I’m creating meant I could let empty space and impactful block colours take the lead, and to great effect. And now I’m stocked up on Tabasco for the next year or so.