Nobody’s suggested to me that product photography and journalism are a strange combination. (Even though photojournalism might be a more obvious career sidestep.)
Nor has anyone asked if I have a photography degree. In fact, all the photographers I know started as amateurs while in an unrelated career; business, the army, engineering, teaching, etc.
Where do I stand as a photographer working for free?
Imagine you’re a creative business. Along comes a brand or influencer requesting freebies in exhange for the promise of ‘exposure’. This is the scenario that played out recently between a former soap actress, her party planners, and a Yorkshire bakery.
The baker declined. All hell broke loose online.
I’ve put a lot of thought into this. In the above case, my response might have been: “Ma’am, the only exposure I know is the amount of light that hits the sensor.”
“Product photographer? You should go down to the woods and take photographs of the bluebells – stuff that people actually want to see.”
“My granddaughter takes pictures of her Starbucks like that.”
The message was clear – when people think professional photographer, they think landscapes. Also weddings, or portraits. So why would anyone want to be a product photographer on the Isle of Wight, when we have such beautiful scenery – let alone hire one?
