Watch How Christina Peters Manages Workflow in Her Ad Agency

Christina Peters of food photography and production company Chris Peters shared her process for finding advertising agency clients and booking shoot days in our latest webinar series.

Part 2, Christina provides an in-depth account of her extensive pre-production process and efficient shoot day workflow, sharing an invoice estimate as well as tips for conducting an effective prep day and providing a glimpse behind the scenes into studio life with her crew.

Watch and learn: [Place_title=”Preproduction Tips and Advice (with Tips from an Agency that Do Not Have Experience With Photography as Well]]. And/Or how to handle Pre-Production (The key lies in Preparation!) (Hint: It all comes down to Planning!)
How to create Shot Lists when Your Clients don’t Understand And Working With Agencies that Don’t Understand Photography].
How to Run the Show Properly the Day of a Shoot On-Demand Webinar – Handling 4 Figure Day Rate Productions with Christina Peters’ Ad Agency Workflow

Thank you to everyone for contributing questions to Christina during our Q&A! Please read through some of Christina’s answers, watch the video clip, and tweet any further inquiries to @photoshelter for any answers we missed during our live session.

This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.

Where can you typically locate freelance producers and studio crew to assist in your production process? Do you mind sharing typical price ranges?

When searching for freelance producers, photo organizations like the APA or ASMP could be useful resources; many members often become members.

Ask fellow photographers if they know of any producers. There are also plenty of great Facebook groups for photographers and commercial shooters; I belong to multiple of these across the country and we all support one another!

For anyone in search of stylists, hair and makeup professionals or wardrobe personnel for their event photography shoots or shoots in general, these groups may also prove invaluable in finding them – many members often become members as well.

Food stylists specifically are served by The Food Stylist Directory – it was started years ago by a photographer from Pittsburgh and currently lists hundreds of food stylists.

Pricing ranges anywhere between $600 and $1,200 a day for my producers depending on the project, duration and extent. They simply charge me a daily rate. Also keep in mind that different producers specialize in different tasks.

Food stylist rates depend entirely on the client. If it’s editorial work, editorial rates tend to be very competitive; most of my team do not do editorial work, however; commercial work usually falls between $650-1,200 per job.

Assistants’ fees depend on their experience; novices with little production knowledge could charge as little as $200-250 a day while an experienced pro assistant might cost $500-600 daily, all depending on your production needs and level.

Would you say that most of the assistants you’re working with are also photographers?

CP: My approach depends entirely on my client. For larger agency jobs where multiple shoots must take place, I need someone familiar with lighting, C stands, strobes and safety precautions in order to not injure themselves when using these equipment. So typically I employ several full-time professional assistants who do not desire becoming photographers but only provide their services as assistants – this type of assistant makes a stark contrast from having an assistant who wants to become one themselves.

On larger jobs, I will bring in at least two professional assistants as well as asking some of my students if they would like to join as second or third assistants.

Do you have any advice for how to be firm when negotiating rates with clients, especially when collecting an advance for shoots before shooting starts? How would you handle cancelling shoots or clients failing to show?

CP: Although I may appear relaxed at first, once someone starts handling my money the real me emerges. Sometimes people think I will take things easy with not paying me, so to be safe I begin the conversation a week prior to shoot day if that is necessary.

Many times it arrives only on prep day. Sometimes they send it via FedEx; other times I send an assistant out myself. If it’s a new client and we are shooting remotely, I want the material in my hands as soon as possible so we don’t waste any time shooting without me present.

Here’s my approach. When an advance doesn’t arrive on prep day, clients receive no images. If I send images for approval they’re usually low res and have an obvious watermark such as “FPO”, making retouching impossible. So my goal is always that once money arrives I won’t give out anything until they have it in hand; that is always my rule.

Can you describe your process since last September? For example, if you’re working remotely and targeting an advertising agency job but no ad agencies exist nearby, what advice would you give to create a remote workflow process?

CP: Here’s the thing. I’ve been shooting remotely since before the digital era began; no joke. From film cameras through digital technology and digital shooters’ equipment to cameras capable of shooting remotely; shooting remotely was already commonplace before pandemic swept the country in 2016. The pandemic simply made it more mainstream.

So I have a page on my website dedicated to shooting remotely, and if that is what you wish to focus on and do in an area without many big clients, then make it known on your website that this is all you do: safe shooting, social distancing or remote shooting (whatever name suits), show pictures of your space if this would look appropriate for clients and discuss the process you would use when conducting remote shoots.

How I do it is very straightforward. Through an estimating process, we work out all of the numbers on stuff; my terms and conditions for remote shoots clearly state if someone doesn’t respond within 15 minutes when I reach out, what they tell me goes. Food on set means whatever I say goes.

If their time zone differs significantly from yours, it’s necessary to adjust your schedule in accordance with theirs if at all possible. If they live in Europe and they’re eight hours ahead, that won’t work for you; but three hours ahead is fine as they check out after lunchtime; at some point during a remote shoot clients will likely vanish without trace!

Therefore, I have my clients’ cell phone numbers. Before the meeting begins, I will email them first with details regarding our agenda for that day: I will notify them in the morning when we start and what projects we are working on.”

Shooting remotely takes longer. That’s true. To accommodate for the approval process that must happen prior to shooting, all creative decisions should be made before hand so when it comes time for set, images can just be assembled without worrying too much about how they’ll turn out.

If you missed our webinar series with Christina Peters, watch it on-demand here and check out this free resource from her on how to attract higher paying clients.