Can You Pitch for Paid Work as a Photographer?

When I first starting pitching to brands, I always offered my services for free. It was the best way that I knew to build my portfolio, build relationships, and get actual experience in working to a brief. I treated those shoots like jobs, and pretty much every single “freebie” I did turned into paid work somewhere down the line.

But these days, I don't offer free shoots anymore. So do I still pitch myself?

100% yes! 

The difference these days is that I pitch myself to brands and offer my services in exchange for payment. 

When I first started doing this, I didn't really know how it would work. I genuinely didn't know if it would work at all, to be honest. But it does. 

The last two shoots that I've done were both paid. They were well paid, too. And I pitched myself to those brands to get those jobs. I went to them, they didn't come to me.

Sure, there was a lot of relationship building that went on before hand. These weren't cold pitches - the brands knew me already. I'd used clothing from both brands in editorials that I'd previously shot. The brands had seen what I could do in those editorials, and when I approached them about further work together, they said yes. 

This yet again goes to show the importance of two things: pitching and shooting editorials.

Shooting editorials is what I've ALWAYS wanted to do as a photographer - since day one. If I could do just that, I genuinely would. I love nothing more than coming up with a concept, making an idea come to life, gathering a team together, and then seeing those images in the pages of a magazine.