What is TFP?

I doubt anyone really knows exactly when TFP started, but I’m certain it’s existed since long before I was born — and that was a long time ago! How the practice began is a classic “the chicken or the egg” question. Was it an aspiring model who approached a photographer to offer her modeling in exchange for free photos or did a photographer approach a model with the offer? Regardless of how it started, it has become a standard practice in the industry. Today when a model & photographer exchange their services to each other without pay for mutual portfolio building, it is known as TFP — Trade for Photos.

The best case scenario is when a skilled photographer pairs up with a stunning model who needs to build or update her/his portfolio. Chances are good they’ll both mutually benefit from the images created by their collaboration. Ideally, the images they create together will lead to paying gigs in the future. It’s a win/win for both parties.

Unfortunately, there are a couple groups who misunderstand how TFP is supposed to work. One of those groups is newbie models. The TFP concept is often completely unknown to them and they don’t understand that it’s a sensible way to gain experience while strengthening their portfolios. The other group is more exploitative — business people who try to get free commercial photography by promising exposure. Cheap and shameless.

Aspiring models can be forgiven for not seeing the bigger picture and value of doing TFP shoots with established photographers. They’ll learn that TFP is their friend and not their enemy. Every major modeling agency worldwide requires their new models to do TFP shoots with agency approved photographers to build their portfolios. No money gets exchanged between the agency, the photographer or the model. It’s all about portfolio building, updating and strengthening. The agency wins, the model wins and the photographer wins with this arrangement.

Now for the bad news. Unfortunately, there are unethical business people who try to hijack the TFP concept in an attempt to get free commercial photography. A common tactic is to boast about how successful their business is or how many followers they have on social media. They ask for free commercial photography in exchange for a “shout out” on Instagram or Facebook. They frame it as “an opportunity”, implying that creating great commercial images for them free of charge will lead to an avalanche of paying clients knocking at the photographer’s (or model’s) door. I wonder if they try that same pitch on the plumber or the auto mechanic? I doubt it.

The traditional TFP arrangement between a model and a photographer represents an equal and fair risk/gain where it’s simply two artists helping each other out. An Amazon seller or other business person who wants free photos to instantly profit from using them is nothing more than pure exploitation. I always tell new photographers and models to avoid those “clients” like the plague!

The Price of Naugahyde

Naugahyde is the original fake leather. Developed by the US Rubber Company in 1914, naugahyde is a composite of knit fabric backing with a leather textured PVC plastic coating.

When I was about 9 years old I accompanied my mother to a furniture upholstery business to get a reupholstery estimate. Our beloved naugahyde sofa had developed a huge tear across the seat cushion (both sides) after years of daily use. The well-worn sofa was proof my family watched way too much television. Our family wasn’t rich and my mom figured reupholstering the old sofa would be much less expensive than buying a brand new one. So, when the upholstery guy finished punching numbers into his calculator and announced a price much higher than my mother was expecting, she was clearly surprised. It’s the first time I ever witnessed “sticker shock”. My cost-conscious mother paused for a few seconds, then said, “Well, do you have anything cheaper than naugahyde?” The guy dropped his pencil onto the desk and gave my mother a stern stare, saying “Lady, there ain’t nothin’ cheaper than naugahyde.” I instantly knew this embarrassed my mother and the experience was so jarring to me I’ve remembered it all these years. 

Fast-forward to today. Far too often, I find myself on the other end of that “sticker shock” experience. After delivering what I believe to be a very reasonable pricing estimate for a commercial photography job, some of my potential clients recoil and express their surprise at my quote. Like my mother dealing with the reupholstery man, they ask if there is anything I can do to make the job cheaper. In those moments, I feel like saying, “Lady, there ain’t nothin’ cheaper than naugahyde”.

My business model is based on a very simple concept: Deliver top quality professional commercial photography at a price well below the standard market rates. Despite my nearly 30 years experience as a full-time professional photographer, my rates are more aligned with those of an advanced amateur versus a well-established pro. Those who’ve worked with professional commercial photographers previously instantly understand that I’m offering them a bargain. My steady, repeat customers typically come from this group. But, I also get my share of newbies. Whenever someone expresses surprise or shock at my rates, I have to assume they are completely inexperienced with commercial photography and they haven’t done any research on the issue before contacting me. Clearly, they don’t recognize or appreciate I’m offering them a bargain.

The uninitiated are often hung up on things like an hourly rate, how much I’m charging per photo or what it would cost if I eliminated the post-production Photoshop editing. It’s foolish to focus on these irrelevant issues. The only thing a client should be focusing on is ROI (Return On Investment). Will the photos I provide enhance your sales or won’t they? As an example, is it smart to pay $250 for professional product photos that will eventually result in $50,000 worth of product sales? Cheapness is short-term thinking. Quality product photography at a reasonable rate should be seen as an INVESTMENT in your business, not merely as an expense.

After talking it over with my father, my parents decided to go ahead and get the old sofa reupholstered with new naugahyde. It was much less expensive than a brand new sofa and the investment paid off. My family continued to enjoy that sofa for many years to come. In fact, I understand it’s still in use by the family who bought it from us back in the late 1980s!

Product Photography and Unicorns

I was recently checking craigslist’s “Creative Gigs” section for any potential professional photography projects that could utilize my expertise and maybe help pay a few bills. One ad caught my eye immediately:

Product Photographer Needed

Small start-up needs quality product photography for Amazon store. Please email with link   to your portfolio. Hoping for hungry, young talent at affordable price. :-)   — Dave

Unfortunately, this new business owner is in for a big surprise. The mythical “hungry, young talent at affordable price” is not nearly as common as craigslist ad posters appear to believe. If it ever exists at all, it’s certainly so rare that no one should ever count on actually locating such a person. I read his craigslist post and couldn’t help but think, “Get real, Dave”.

The problem for me is that there are a lot of “Daves” out there. They’re newbie e-commerce business owners who’s business plan and budget depend upon finding the urban legend of product photography — a yet-to-be-discovered, young photographic genius who has secretly devoted years to studying the world's best product photography, has spent countless hours privately mastering the fine art of product photography, owns professional cameras, studio lighting plus has expert Photoshop skills — and is still in the pre-professional (no fees or low fees) portfolio building stage of his budding career. Stop dreaming. Wait -- I think I once saw one of those guys riding a unicorn at the end of a rainbow.

To Dave’s credit, at least he's aware that he shouldn’t try doing the product photography himself. Believe it or not, a large percentage of my product photography clients got in touch with me only after they tried to do their own product photography -- and failed miserably. I’m sure it was a very frustrating and humiliating experience for them. Reality check: Quality product photography is much, much more complicated and difficult than it appears. A talented product photographer only makes it look easy. Creating impactful images that seem effortless is part of our craft. Don't be fooled. 

Professional product photography often requires specialized camera gear, lenses, lighting and numerous additional accessories to properly capture the subject. Then, the images must undergo skillful Photoshop editing — sometimes very extensive editing — to give them the magic that separates professional photography from amateur snapshots.

Often overlooked is the balance of various talents a product photographer brings to the project: artistry, psychology, extensive technical knowledge, etc.  All of these talents must be tapped to create effective “images that sell”. This highly specialized balance of varied talents can’t be found in just anybody off the street, and they probably don’t exist in a “hungry, young talent” either. 

Architectural Photography 101

Architectural photography is significantly more complex than it may appear to be. If your goal is to get “Architectural Digest” quality images, it requires an "artistic eye" to recognize the strongest vantage points that will best showcase a property, utilizing quality photographic equipment, specialized photographic techniques and mastery of Photoshop editing. Most pros use a specialized technique called high dynamic range (HDR) when shooting architectural images. HDR is a photographic technique that involves "bracketing" -- shooting the same image at various exposures which are later composited into a single, tonally balanced final image. To summarize — there is a lot more involved than just owning a nice camera, snapping away randomly and hoping you get a few good shots out of it. It’s also very helpful if the photographer has a lifelong passion for beautiful architectural images and has studied them in detail since childhood — as I have.

Since most real estate buyers or renters shop for properties online today, the photos are the single most critical element in a marketing campaign. It puzzles me why so many realtors and property managers (with no professional photography background) treat their all-important real estate photos as a DIY project. Sorry, but your iPhone photos aren’t going to attract anyone to your property!

When budgeting for architectural photography, it’s very important to recognize all of the hours of work and years of expertise that are required to produce professional quality images. For example, a typical 3 bedroom, 2 bath house takes me at least 3 hours to photograph, plus at least a couple days to edit in Photoshop. If there are a lot of view windows to composite, the editing could take 4 days. Yet, when I speak with newbie realtors and property managers, they often assume the photography will take only 45 minutes, with no consideration of the Photoshop/post-production time. Unfortunately, their photography budget reflects that misconception. I'm hoping this quick lesson in architectural photography will help to educate my future clients about the work I do and they'll adjust their budgets accordingly.

BEFORE. Multiple exposures are shot to capture the proper lighting for exterior and interior.

AFTER. The multiple exposures are combined, the vertical lines straightened and the overall exposure and light levels are corrected.