3 Steps to Getting Hired as a Fashion Photographer
Today I wanted to break down 3 stages that will lead to you getting hired by brands/magazines as a fashion photographer. Shall we just dive right in?
Create your dream client list:
First things first! You need to get pen to paper and write down a list of who your dream clients are. What brands would you like to shoot for? What magazines? What kind of imagery do you want to shoot? Are you interested in shooting ecommerce, or lookbooks? Or do you want to be the person hired to shoot the campaigns.
Get really clear on what it is that you want to do, and who you want to shoot for.Build a portfolio which will attract those dream clients:
After you've done all of that research, you need to make sure that you have a portfolio that is going to grab their attention. If you don't have a portfolio of work yet, you need to start producing photoshoots (yes, for free) that you believe are aligned with the brands you'd eventually like to target. This can take a long time, so don't be put off if you need to spend a year or two really building this body of work.
If you've already got a decent portfolio, can you spot any gaps? Is there anything that you think is missing? If so, go out and produce a shoot that will that gap. That's what any test shoot or portfolio shoot that you create should be aiming to do.
Brands need to see evidence in your portfolio that you can do what you say you can do. If they can't see it, they won't believe you. So show them what you're capable of!Share Your Work:
Now that you've got your portfolio (and let's not kid ourselves, you'll forever be building your portfolio - it's never “done!”), you need to get that work out into the world. That means building a website, posting to social media like Instagram, entering competitions, and sending emails directly to the clients that you'd like to work with.
You've spent all of this time shooting the portfolio to attract those dream clients, now you need to get your portfolio to work hard for you! Spread your work out as far and wide as you can.
There you go! Obviously this is very over simplified, but overall, this is exactly what you need to do to get started as a fashion photographer. Do these three things, and you're most of the way there.
