Hair Photography?

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Permalink Reply by Ian Phillips-McLaren on December 3, 2007 at 11:44am

Hi Jenni
Hope this isn't to late (been really busy of late): I use to shoot for Vidal Sassoon, many moons ago, There is no right or wrong way to shoot hair apart from the obvious (the hair has to look good). Just shoot the hair the same way you shoot everything else, every one has their own approach.
For what it's worth - I used to shoot hair the same way that I shot my fashion, in that, I set a style for the whole image and not just the hair, the viewing public are buying in to the whole look, so plan the shot for the whole shot and not just the hair - don't be afraid to pull back and make it a fashion shot or a mood shot, don't just shoot tight head shots - because like I said above . people are buying into the whole vibe.

hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Jenni Wheeler on December 3, 2007 at 1:15pm

Hey Ian,
It's not too late. Thanks for the advice!! i won't start this project until after the holidays, so I'm looking for all the advice I can get :) Can I ask another question if you're not too busy? I did a shoot for a musician's cd cover and jazz gig. 7 hrs of shooting, more for processing etc. Advice on what to charge? I was thinking in the $1500-$2000 range. Thanks so much for helping me. You have no idea how much i appreciate the input.

Jenni

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Permalink Reply by Ian Phillips-McLaren on December 3, 2007 at 1:50pm

That's good, glad you haven't done it yet.

Charging is a funny old thing, generally depending on where you are in your career and what other shoots and press etc you have to back it up - how much it's worth to the client etc, etc. I'm not sure what American photographers charge these day's, all I know is that I have a few New York clients but they generally pay my UK rates (sometimes reluctantly).

To give you an idea. The last Cd cover I shot, I charged 2000.00 pounds plus 2000.00 pounds buy-out and 350.00 pounds digital processing plus 15.00 pounds per image processed, that fee was for a new unknown artist - if it had been an established artist i would have charged much more. On the other hand - jazz artists don't have the same amount of money to throw around as pop or rock artists. I have this rule of thumb, that, if you get offered a shoot and the client doesn't have much of a budget or you're not sure what to charge but you really want to do the shoot - charge what you feel you would be happy accepting for a day's work.

You should for future shoots have a set fee for certain things:
1. Press and Web
2. Magazines etc (they generally have their own fee structure)
3. Advertising
4. Corporate

This way you wont have any problems about what to charge people and your not he-ing and ho-ing over the phone - you can just rattle of your fees at the drop of a hat. Clients will pick up on the fact that your not sure about fees if you don't know them off by heart.

Hope this helps

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Permalink Reply by Jenni Wheeler on December 3, 2007 at 2:29pm

Helps a ton! Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes!

Jenni

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Permalink Reply by Ian Phillips-McLaren on December 3, 2007 at 5:56pm

cool, please do.

Ian

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Permalink Reply by Jenni Wheeler on June 29, 2008 at 2:49am

Sorry it took so long to get back to you!! Check out the Julie Lavender shot. It's my first CD cover. Critique?
Jenni

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Permalink Reply by Ian Phillips-McLaren on July 2, 2008 at 9:43am

Nice one, very Alice in wonderland.

Glad to see youve been busy.

Ian

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