How to Build Your Fashion Portfolio on a Budget

Building a quality portfolio can be an expensive endeavor, especially if you don't budget and carefully consider your costs. Putting together professional quality shoots on a budget can be challenging. After experiencing some of the wide variations in cost for things like models, makeup artists, and the other essential pieces of a shoot, I wanted share my experiences and lessons learned the hard way.

Building a portfolio is something I’m not new to at all. Five years of art school, 2 years of graduate art school, 10 years total in photography, and 7 years teaching art and design with students working on putting together their own portfolios has given me some insight and experience to the process of portfolio building

Also, shooting to build an updated body of work isn’t a one-time thing, it's an ongoing process that we as photographers continually do in order to grow in our art, a process that lasts for potentially our entire careers. When planning a personal shoot I find it very easy to overspend. I get so wrapped up in the image and the end result being perfect that I become carried away and can easily justify almost any financial hit in order to get the final result I have envisioned. This attitude, while not completely wrong necessarily (at the end of the day the most important thing is the image), has led to some buyer's remorse on a few of my personal shoots. It's a feeling I would like to help some of you out there avoid.

Below are a list of the main components for a fashion shoot. The rates are based on half-day shoots, and the experiences and dollar amounts are relative to my market, New Orleans.

1.) Model $0 - $600

For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to assume we’re shooting with one model. The range of cost here can greatly vary. At the higher end I’ve paid rates around $150 an hour. At first glance this may not seem too crazy, but when considering I live in a market where even the stronger girls have little to no print experience, and we’re dealing with work that doesn’t require usage (being used only for portfolio and unpaid editorial submission), spending $600 plus for a half-day shoot can be a little pricey.

Getting a better rate: By working with agencies that are experienced and that you have built a relationship with, you are more likely to: (1) get better girls, and (2) get better rates. Once I’ve built a positive relationship with an agency, they are more likely to send models that are happy to work with me because they know they will get strong images. Also they don’t mind shooting for a lower rate, which can be somewhere around $25 to $50 per hour.

But even better then a low rate is no rate, right? Models will at times be very happy to do TFP (test for print). To put it simply, they work with you for free because they want to build their portfolio as well. If you don’t have quality work to show, you will be less likely to get models (who you actually want to work with) who are willing to do TFP work.

You may even be able to work on trade. I have had the experience of trading shoots for shoots. This means I’ll shoot something for you that you want or need, maybe your new headshot, and then you will work with me on my shoot in exchange. I have personally had very positive experiences doing this.

2.) Hair and Makeup: $0 to $600

I’m grouping these together because the price points can be very similar, but it should be noted that these are most often (in my experience) two different people with two (slightly similar but) different rates. On the higher end I’ve spent and/or been quoted $300 for a four-hour shoot for a makeup artist and another $300 for hair.

I also find it much more likely and easier to find talented hair and makeup artists who are willing to work for free so that they can build their portfolios.

I personally like feeling good about bringing someone into a shoot. I want to know and feel like they are excited to be there, either because they are making money or because they really love the concept of the shoot and the images being produced. If the concept is coming from the makeup artist, then I know it's something they are passionate about and I know they will be highly engaged on the day of the shoot, so I don’t mind at all not paying. Although if it's my shoot and my concept, I don’t like not paying even if they offer. Not because I don’t like my money, I certainly do, but like I stated previously I want them to be excited and engaged. Paying them, even when they offer to work without charge, lets them know that you value them as a professional and value their time. People appreciate being appreciated, and when people are happy working with you it figuratively pays off. In these cases, and in most cases for my personal shoots, I wind up putting out about $300 total for both hair and makeup (approximately $150 each). I should note that it’s not all that uncommon to have someone that is talented and can do both hair and makeup. This is just a personal thing, but I like having one person that is completely focused on their singular task.

3.) Stylist: $0 to $2,000

This can possibly be the widest range of cost for the shoot. Now I don’t think that most of us on a relatively small budget would fork out $2,000 for a stylist on a half-day portfolio shoot, but this price point is very realistic. If a stylist is pulling looks for you, there is a possibility they will have to pay a “studio service” fee to the stores they are pulling from. The studio service is basically a rental fee often billed as a re-stocking fee that can vary on average from 10 to 30 percent of the actual cost of the merchandise. Based on these numbers, those of us familiar with the prices of higher end fashion know that the $2,000 price point could easily be blown out the water. Paying a studio service fee plus the stylist fee can quickly leave us with a much lighter wallet.

Now let's come back down to earth and talk about more practical options and rates for getting looks for a shoot. For one, some stylist may be able to and/or willing to outright purchase the clothing and then return them after the shoot, negating that cost for the clothing itself. Then you are looking at only the stylist rates which can also vary. Just like with models and MUAs, some newer stylist may be looking to build their portfolios and be happy to work with you on your concept without charge.

The other option, and the one I would recommend and do the most often, is working directly with a boutique or designer. Call them, show them your work, explain what your trying to do, and many will be happy to allow you to use their clothing and will even style the looks for you. This can even be a great way of showcasing your talents to them and potentially nabbing a new client. The counterpoint is, you’re giving them free work and you need to be careful not to devalue your work or the work of other photographers by giving it away too frequently; There’s definitely a balance to it.

4.) Location: $0 to $500

I’ve capped this at $500 to be reasonable, but there are certainly locations that are more expensive to shoot at. There are some great locations in New Orleans that are willing to charge in the range of $300 an hour. So if you wanted to spend $1,000 plus on a personal shoot's location you very well could. The $500 comes from the higher range of renting studio space in my area. The studio rental options I have available to me range between $200 and $500 for a half-day shoot. Also many of you out there, like myself, may have studio spaces they can use for no cost at all.

The other much cheaper option is to shoot in a free public space. Some public spaces may not like you being there, but there are certainly many great spaces around urban and rural areas to shoot at that don’t cost a cent. As long as they fit your concept, they can be the way to go.

Gear: $0 to Infinity

I, like most of us, love gear. A new light or new modifier is always tempting. I very often when planning out a shoot think to myself, “It would be cool to shoot it with…” insert some unnecessary piece of gear I don’t have. Sometimes it's just time to get that new strobe, new modifier, or new boom. However if you have what you need to do the job successfully, I would encourage you, as I would encourage myself, to fight the urge to purchase new gear that you know you don’t need.

Overview

It may be difficult when starting out to get quality professionals to work with you. While you may be able to get inexperienced hair stylists, makeup artists, and models to work for lower rates, you may also be wasting your time and money if the work produced is not usable. Producing strong images will not only help you book the jobs you want, but will also start the exponential effect of drawing stronger professionals in that want to work with you and are also happy working for lower rates.

Total Cost Range: $0 to $3,700

Typical Approximate Cost On My Shoots: $500

Keep in mind this is per shoot, and putting together a new body or work may include 10 shoots or more.

My advice is to pay up at first. If you're confident in your ability and you know that if you have strong quality people around you, then you will be able to produce strong work. As you build up your portfolio and personal relationships, you will have the option of saving significantly on future personal portfolio building shoots.

I hope some of you find this helpful and insightful. I would love to hear about the experiences of building your own portfolio, rates, etc., from those of you out there in various markets.