Food Photography Question?

[danial]

Ya because I am going to go to all that work and effort when its a none paying job anyway...

That's the attitude!

:violin:

Maybe you should have read the whole thing. And how he asked me to do the work not the other way around..

 

[Steve5D]

Ya because I am going to go to all that work and effort when its a none paying job anyway.. Instead the owner could have taken my word for it even tho I haven't done food photography before I have more knowledge than him.

Wow.

It's called "building a portfolio" and, if you ever want a chance of doing this for money, you'd damn well better have one. There's not a single reason for the guy to accept what you say. Not. A. Single. Reason. You need to be able to show him your work.

What you're showing now is that you're unwilling to do the work to get the gig...

And he contacted me because someone I previously took images for recommended me to him.

So what?

And your comment that your confident that he could have been turned provided it was someone other than me I'd love to see you convince him and go through all the work u said you would have done and not get paid at the end.

Well, see, there's the difference between me and you. You're afraid to do the work to do a gratis job. I would do the work and get him to pay me, because I know how to show someone the value of something...

And I was very friendly to him I posted it very blunt here just to get the gyst of the story of what happened. But I love how you say he could have been changed if it were someone other than me yet you don't even know me nice !

Being very nice is great; good for you. But how things are presented reveal much. It's not the words you're using but, rather, your mindset which reveals that you're out of your league. It's pretty clear that you don't understand what it is to own and operate a small business; even a thriving one. The money spent on a photo shoot would not, and should not, come out of his pockets, despite the fact that you insist he's well off. The money for it should come out of the business. Part of your job is convince him to loosen the company purse strings and make an investment in his business. But, because you don't understand business, you're unable to do that.

Someone who does understand small business could...

 

[Steve5D]

Ya because I am going to go to all that work and effort when its a none paying job anyway...

That's the attitude!

:violin:

Maybe you should have read the whole thing. And how he asked me to do the work not the other way around..

I'm not entirely sure why that really matters...

 

[Steve5D]

If they don't believe me then they can get someone else.

Perhaps you could explain exactly why they should believe you.

Should they believe you simply because someone recommended you? Should they believe you because you've got a fancy camera? Should they believe you because your portfolio shows... Um, nevermind. Scratch that last one.

Why should someone simply believe what you say?

And if u don't think that's the attitude to have well I couldn't give a...

I love your attitude. It means that you will never be anyone's competition...

 

[Steve5D]

So what?

...if you think, I'm gonna do a free job for someone and take more images than I need to to show them how much time needs to be put in to get a good result.. If they don't believe me then they can get someone else.. I'm not doing hand outs for more work than I want to do. And if u don't think that's the attitude to have well .. That's my attitude if you don't like it lump it.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The future

It's funny and sad all at the same time...

 

[Braineack]

that's what she said.

 

[vintagesnaps]

At this point I don't exactly see aspiring professional here... I think (maybe??) the original question was about if people thought the OP was right in saying this wasn't do-able the way the restaurant owner wanted it done. I think people might be trying to let the OP know that it's not a simple yes/no, it's up to the photographer how they present to a potential client what they can offer and how the job would be done. If that doesn't work for the potential client then it's probably better to move on.

I think too people might be trying to point out that you don't have a lot of ground to stand on if you haven't done food photography before, because that gets into doing commercial work (that as someone mentioned earlier involves staging the food like is done for magazine articles etc.). I think you'd have to know how to do that and be able to show some work from a portfolio to demonstrate to a client what you can do - until you have that how would a potential client know what you're capable of? Word of mouth by a friend could get you some referrals but that may not be enough for a prospective client to want to work with you, I think you might need to show a client the 'why' in doing a specific job.

 

[tirediron]

First of all: Last warning. Let's keep things clean, polite and above the belt or this thread is done.

OP: You don't seem to understand the concept of building a portfolio. It's not something you get to do on the backs of paying clients. It's not even something that you normally get to do for free. It is usually something that costs you money, sometimes a lot of money. I wouldn't want to think of all the studio rental fees I've paid, gas I've bought, etc, etc, just to bring in a model for a "free" shoot so I could add her to my portfolio

This is true whether you're a model, photographer, MUA, or dog-groomer! You have to be able to demonstrate to potential clients that you can produce the level of work they require. In order to do that you have to show them images. Go home, spend a couple of hundred dollar, buy some food and photograph it. Nothing exciting, canned soup, a slice of cake, cookies on a plate, that sort of thing. Put together a portfolio of ten images which show that you can light and present food decently and then shop yourself around.

Telling the potential client that his idea won't work is one thing, pulling out a binder of high-quality food images and showing him what you can do under the right conditions is another animal entirely.

 

[epeddy1]

First of all: Last warning. Let's keep things clean, polite and above the belt or this thread is done.

OP: You don't seem to understand the concept of building a portfolio. It's not something you get to do on the backs of paying clients. It's not even something that you normally get to do for free. It is usually something that costs you money, sometimes a lot of money. I wouldn't want to think of all the studio rental fees I've paid, gas I've bought, etc, etc, just to bring in a model for a "free" shoot so I could add her to my portfolio

This is true whether you're a model, photographer, MUA, or dog-groomer! You have to be able to demonstrate to potential clients that you can produce the level of work they require. In order to do that you have to show them images. Go home, spend a couple of hundred dollar, buy some food and photograph it. Nothing exciting, canned soup, a slice of cake, cookies on a plate, that sort of thing. Put together a portfolio of ten images which show that you can light and present food decently and then shop yourself around.

Telling the potential client that his idea won't work is one thing, pulling out a binder of high-quality food images and showing him what you can do under the right conditions is another animal entirely.

By the time he buys the food, etc etc, and builds his portfolio, he doesn't need this guy's pro bono work anymore to build his food portfolio. At that point he should present his portfolio and ask for a fee. The way I see it, he's trying to accomplish a win-win and the owner doesn't want to be a part of it. To which I say walk away. Everyone seems to be answering the question "how do I market myself as a food photographer" which was never asked.

 

[tirediron]

By the time he buys the food, etc etc, and builds his portfolio, he doesn't need this guy's pro bono work anymore to build his food portfolio. ...

I would respectfully disagree. The 'build it at home' portion of one's portfolio is nothing more than a 'get your foot in the door' project. It is what you need to lead to 'real' jobs. Having nice food images is one thing, having nice food images that were shot for a restaurant is another thing completely.