DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed here are strictly my own and have also been known to change over time. I am a work-in-progress. I do not consider myself an expert at anything or necessarily uniquely qualified to provide advice (if given) that may be helpful to you. But advice, when given, is intended only for a positive purpose. All readers are encouraged to always inform themselves in greater detail and make up their own minds with regards to anything I might write. To get a better idea of where I'm coming from, see my "about me" blog entry.
[Note: This blog entry was originally posted December 29th, 2006. I periodically update the post date of this entry in order to keep it current and easily accessible to non-subscribers of my blog (old blog entries eventually become invisible to non-subscribers after a while, or at least when they're posted in the previous year)].
Hey Folks -
Due to last minute cancellations or unexpected availability, I often find myself with the time and desire to shoot, but no one available to work with.
To remedy that, I've put together a "Short Notice Photo Shoot Announcements" list which anyone interested in the possibility of a free photo shoot is welcome to subscribe to.
[If you decide to sign up, it is very important that you confirm your email address afterwards. This is simply a safeguard to make sure that you actually want to receive the notices and protects you against other people submitting your email address without your permission.
Once you hit "submit" to sign up, you will be sent a confirmation email. You must click the link in that email to confirm your subscription. If you do not confirm your email address, you will not receive any announcements. If you don't receive a confirmation letter (after checking your spam folder), be sure to let me know.]
This is how the Short Notice Photo Shoot Announcement List works:
Anyone in the Los Angeles area interested in shooting and potentially available at short notice (usually between 2 and 48 hours notice) should subscribe to this announcements list. (And no, I am absolutely not going to do anything with your email address or spam you. I despise people who do that.)
Whenever I have an unexpected availability and a desire to shoot, I will send subscribers an email which will include all the necessary *details for folks to determine whether they can (or want to) participate.
If you happen to be free at that particular time and want to shoot, then you simply respond and let me know.
No experience is necessary, so anyone can get involved. And these shoots will be provided free of charge. I'll be happy to just have someone to work with.
The only "catch" is that I will generally only work with one person per shoot. So depending upon the number of people who respond to a given announcement, I will base my selection on the person I feel is most appropriate for the type of shooting I am most interested in on that day. I will also take into consideration the number of hours the person is available. For example, if I have 4 hours of availability, but you're only available for 2, but someone else is available for 4, I may choose the person who's available longer.
With that said, it is my intention, over time, to work with a variety of different people, styles, and looks and accomodate as many different people as possible.
Also, I can almost always accomodate anyone who needs headshots at these type of shoots.
*Details will include:
Date of Shoot (example: Jan 22)
Specific Hours That I Have Available (example: 1-4pm)
Minimum Availability Required To Participate (usually 2)
Shoot Location (example: Santa Monica)
Stylist/Make-Up Artist Available (Yes/No)
Theme or Focus of Shoot (if any)
If this sounds like a good idea or if you think I can improve upon this in any way, please let me know.
Answers to some questions I anticipate:
Q: Why do you offer free shoots? What's the catch?
A: I mainly offer free shoots because I enjoy it. I know, that's probably hard to believe in this day in age, but if you think about it, I could easily charge a small fee for shoots (like $25) and people would likely pay for the opportunity. So the "free" in "free shoots" is intentional (but it also doesn't mean I don't value my services). I know I'm worth more than the rates I do charge (which are kept "affordable" for a reason) and I don't need to provide free shoots to build up my portfolio (or my confidence) like someone just starting out. So I do it because I enjoy it.
I also provide free shoots because it's good publicity which also results in great word-of-mouth advertising. I know that if I provide someone with a free shoot and they have a good time and love their photos, they're likely to tell somebody about it. Eventually I think stuff like this comes back around. (You do a good deed for someone else and it comes back to you in one form or another.)
As for a "catch", there really isn't one. I provide the same features with my free shoots as I do with my paid shoots. This means you get a comparable number of photos and features provided with your shoot as you would with a paid shoot of similar timing. (I.e. If we shoot for an hour, you get the options for the 1 hour package I provide, and so on).
Yes, if you want 5 *processed photos (provided with a 2 hour shoot), but we only shoot for one hour (which includes 3 processed photos), then I'll ask that you pay for the additional 2 photos. That should make sense.
*See the rates and services section on my site for a definition of "processed" and a breakdown of my rates & services.
Q: You offer a "Satisfaction Guarantee" with your paid shoots. Does this apply to your fee shoots?
A: Believe it or not, yes. It's simply the way I work and the values I believe in. I don't ever want anyone to walk away with photos they don't like or can't use.
Just keep in mind, the type of shoot I provide will be described in the "photo shoot details" section. Some days I may just be shooting headshots, so that's what you'll get. Other days I may focus on glamour photography, and that's what you'd get. My satisfaction guarantee won't apply if you sign up for a headshots shoot and you're upset because all we shot were lifestyle photos because that was the theme of the shoot. Make sense? And if you're not happy with your photos, you have to tell me right away. You can't wait 3 months to drop the news, ok?
Q: Your gallery looks like it's full of gorgeous people. I don't look like a model. Do I have any chance at being selected for a free shoot?
A: Absolutely. One of my goals in providing free shoots is to provide opportunities to a broad range of people encompassing a variety of different looks and styles.
Q: How often to you offer free shoots?
A: It depends. Ideally, I'd like to be able to offer at least one free shoot every week. But many times this isn't possible. Sometimes I have time for 2 shoots in a single week…and other times, it's been over a month between free sessions. It really just depends. But again, my goal is to provide these as often as I am and can afford to.
Q: What dictates your availability for free shoots?
A: Due to the nature of natural light photography and shooting outdoors, I am at the whim of the weather and lighting conditions. I generally try not to schedule shoots at times when inclement weather (or poor lighting conditions) is predicted, even though most of the time SoCal weather forecasts are wrong (you tend to notice this more when you rely on them). So in cases where the weather actually cooperates on a day I don't have anything scheduled, I often like to fill this time by shooting.
And, of course, there are also times in which I've intentionally left "me time" available or simply blocks of time that no one scheduled. And when I'm up to it, I like to fill this time by shooting.
Q: Is there anything I can do to increase my chances of being selected?
A: You mean like bribing me? Well maybe. But seriously, it depends. Sometimes I do find it valuable to hear how significant a free shoot would be to you or your motivation for wanting one. Even if that means telling me that you just got new headshots taken last week (which generally means you don't need more), but you're hoping for something better.
But if you have a "real story" behind what a free shoot would mean to you, all that I ask, if you want to share it, is that you're truthful. Please don't make up some story about how your husband left you, you lost your job, and you're broke if it isn't true.
I'm already going to assume that almost anyone who wants a free shoot is broke. Or thrifty. Or both. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you can easily afford a photo shoot (at my rates), then I ask that you leave these free opportunities for people who are not quite as financially fortunate, as that's who these shoots are of most value to.
Q: I see the photo shoot would be free, but how much is the cost to have photos made?
A: First, for the skeptical out there (and I'm sure there are a few), I'm not trying to trick anyone here. Every free shoot I provide is nearly identical to the paid shoots I provide. So rest assured that I'm not going to suddenly say, "now if you want your photos, this is what you'll have to pay". Free means free. I treat people the way I'd like to be treated. If someone pulled a "bait & switch" thing on me after offering me a free shoot, I'd never work with them again, let alone send them any business.
As for prints, I don't provide physical photo prints with any of my services as I prefer to focus on the photography aspect of what I do. What I do provide with each shoot is a select number of high-resolution "digital negatives" (which I will also professionally retouch for free) and let the people I work with choose whichever printing service they want to have their prints made.
The number of digital negatives provided with each shoot will at least be equal to the equivalent paid packages I provide. So see my site for that info. And just so it's clear, if you desire to have more touched up digital negatives beyond the number provided with your shoot, then yes, that's something you'd need to pay for. But that's exactly the same as with my paid shoots.
The benefit of being able to print your own photos is that you can make as many prints of those photos as you want, with whoever you want, at whatever price you can afford.
Q: I noticed that you scheduled a free shoot, but then cancelled it. Were you ever really planning on doing the shoot?
A: As of 2/28/07, this has happened twice now. I've offered a free shoot, but then ultimately cancelled it later. Both times, this has only happened after I've contacted someone who stated they were available, only to get voicemail. After leaving a message stating they were selected and telling them to call me back ASAP, I didn't hear back (though the person I called today may still ultimately call me back, as it's only been an hour).
While in these cases I could then pick someone else to work with (after say 15 minutes time allowance for the first person to call me back), both times I've had other things come up that I should attend to.
For what it's worth, I'm a skeptical person myself, so I understand if people question whether I was really going to offer a free shoot to begin with when I ultimately cancel it, but then, would I really need to advertise that it didn't work out on a particular day? You wouldn't know one way or the other. So I'm open about when I cancel free shoots as opposed to letting people think that they actually took place.
So far, I think I've offered 8 free shoots since Jan 2007. Of those, 6 have gone forward as scheduled.
If you like my blog and want to be notified when I post something new, subscribe to it.