"...I am the founder of a new clothing brand. I am in need of a volunteer photographer to take pics of two of my models for my new site and for our marketing. These pics will be viewed by all customers, retail stores, and at fashion shows since they will be our main photo pieces. So basically, whoever volunteers would get a lot of publicity and their work will be seen at fashion shows in Chicago, Dallas, Vegas and quite possibly New York."
It's not good for my blood pressure
Does the ad shown above sound familiar? You can find ads like this each day on Craigslist. I don't know why I check the Creative Gigs section of Craigslist for possible leads for photography jobs; it's not good for my blood pressure!
What's in this for me?
Now, I can understand folks being on a budget, especially when operating a small, upcoming business(just like my own photography business I should add!), but why would I as a photographer, who spent thousands of dollars on expensive camera equipment, my own money educating myself and hours perfecting my craft, want to volunteer my product for free? Will the photos I shoot have my name and contact information on the face of them while on the website of the clothing line? Will it be on the photos on display at the fashion shows in Dallas, Las Vegas and possibly New York?
Why shoot commercial photography for free?
I try to understand why photography is expected to be provided for free...the clothing manufacturer can't even offer a free tee-shirt, or to buy me a value meal at McDonald's or to cover the price of gas to go to and from their site? Just do it for free? Not even ten bucks? Seriously...think about it! What is the photographer really getting out of this deal. Unless a business plan, indicating guaranteed publicity is offered, what's in it for me? Afterall, the business sees value in the images and will profit from these photographs.
Improving my portfolio how?
Recently, there was another Craigslist ad for an 'upcoming model' seeking, again, free photography to bolster her headshots. The deal? To help the
photographer better their portfolio. I wrote to ask if she could send me five current photos so that I could determine whether she was pretty enough to become part of my portfolio(you know, to better it!) before I would commit to shooting her headshots for free. Of course, I received no reply. Do folks like this truly believe most photographers see value in this? I certainly haven't met any.
AD: Photographer seeks volunteer clothing brand for photo shoots
Advertising such as this must work because there is an increase to this type of ad on Craigslist, so I thought I would give it a try! I've written my own ad to be posted sometime soon:
"...I am the founder of a new photography business. I am in need of a volunteer clothing brand to give me several outfits for me to wear on photo shoots. These outfits will be viewed by my customers, family, friends and motorists driving by me while I snap photos. They will be my main clothes that I wear when on photo shoots. So basically, whoever volunteers would get a lot of publicity and their clothing line will be seen at photo shoots in Chicago, Dallas, Vegas and quite possibly New York"
Sounds ridiculous doesn't it?! Any takers?
[where: 76248]
