How to Make Money From Quick and Easy Photoshoots

Photographer Taylor Jackson shifted his work slightly in the last nine months, and this video gives you a really useful insight into how he has created regular jobs through short photoshoots for local businesses.

As Jackson will probably tell you, there’s a fair amount of leg work that goes into making these shoots happen in the first place: making contact, putting together proposals, sending over portfolios, and visiting in person to discuss ideas. While it’s easy to assume that being a photographer is mostly knowing about lighting and composition, equally important — if not more so — are all of the soft skills that go into making these opportunities happen in the first place.

That said, there’s lots here to take in in terms of detail, such as the speed advantage that a pair of zooms offer you over a bag full of primes. Sure, you might not be getting all of the glorious bokeh that you'd achieve with wider apertures, but as Jackson is keen to point out, a shoot like this isn’t about crafting high-end content. Instead, it’s about forgoing some of the attention to detail in order to make sure that the client ends up with a decent batch of options that you’ve delivered in an impressive amount of time.

Have you tried this approach? What details of your work make it effective for you? Let us know in the comments below.

Andy Day's picture

Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fairly useless dog. He has an MA in Sociology & Photography which often makes him ponder what all of this really means.

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6 Comments

Im in the same boat. it would not be my normal work although i was sat there thinking about it and its similar to some of the work i do for brands with in the sport i cover.

I really think if 2020 has taught us anything is you shouldn't put all your eggs in once basket this could make a nice side line to a business if done right. having a mix of revenue streams is always good.

id also point out you never know where jobs will lead to just because your doing something for little brands today doesn't mean you cant build it in to something bigger or be discovered by some one this way.

if i could get 6 companies paying £400 each and all that adding up to days work between them that's £2400 a month £28,800 a year. it would be a amazing revenue stream.

I wasn’t saying it was you total earnings but if you can work 1.5 days a month for £28,800 a year I’d take that ! To add to my other work

I used to place a very high premium on high production value. Then I got a job working with clients to produce advertising for them. Mostly all small businesses, but occasionally some larger, nationals.
I can count on one hand the number of clients that actually had any idea what high production values were, let alone cared about. What the majority of clients I've worked with really cared about was getting their advert in front of consumers as quickly as possible. They want it tomorrow. They always come late to the game because the advertising is often an after thought. Their money is green too and it does add up to enough to keep the lights on and the paychecks from bouncing. Just not always exactly the kind of rewarding work idealistic production people like to work on.

Agreed I’ve always said you need some jobs that are the keep the lights on money !

I met a guy who used to shoot higher end commercials and TV stuff then somehow all that sort of fell apart. Now he says he shoots little social media packages for small businesses. A few video clips and enough photos for IG and FB - hooks them up for 4 a year at $600 (?) each. He said that it takes about and hour or so to shoot and an hour for post. The shop owners all talk to each other and he says he is very busy...
I didn't have nearly 40 minutes to watch the whole show, how much does Taylor charge??