Fashion · Savannah, GA · Editorial by conversation. Commercial estimating for spring.
Eight to fifteen people make a fashion image. One of them is holding the camera.
Editorial and lookbook photography in Savannah. Every frame here carries the full credit block, because a fashion image is made by a crew and the convention exists for a reason — and under each one you can open what the shoot actually paid.
The work
Every frame, with everyone on it.
The credit block is not a courtesy. A fashion image is made by a crew, the convention for naming them is universal in print, and it is dropped almost everywhere else. Every name above is on every frame it belongs to, in the order the trade uses.
Bauhaus, Anywhere
Editorial · Ochre Quarterly, issue 14- Photography
- Odile Auberge
- Styling
- Marisol Okonkwo
- Hair
- Devendra Rai
- Make-up
- Fiadh Ó Braonáin
- Model
- Tuuli Rehn at Grove
- Production
- Auberge Two
- Manicure
- Perpetua Lindgren
- Set design
- Halvor Ndiaye
- Retouch
- Kwabena Asare
- Garments
- Vestry Atelier
What this shoot paid
A loss, and a normal one for an independent title. The stylist on this shoot has recommended us for three paid jobs since.
Long Coat, White Rail
Editorial · Ochre Quarterly, issue 14- Photography
- Odile Auberge
- Styling
- Marisol Okonkwo
- Hair
- Devendra Rai
- Make-up
- Fiadh Ó Braonáin
- Model
- Ilhan Yusuf at Grove
- Assistant
- Perpetua Lindgren
- Digital tech
- Halvor Ndiaye
- Casting
- Marisol Okonkwo
- Retouch
- Kwabena Asare
- Garments
- Vestry Atelier
What this shoot paid
Same day, same crew, second story. Splitting a shoot day across two stories is how editorial is made to almost work.
Yellow, From Behind
Editorial · Wend Magazine, autumn- Photography
- Odile Auberge
- Styling
- Bexley Ferreira
- Hair and make-up
- Nnenna Achebe
- Model
- Saoirse Delacroix at Meridian
- Casting
- Wend Magazine
- Manicure
- Perpetua Lindgren
- Assistant
- Halvor Ndiaye
- Retouch
- Odile Auberge
- Garments
- Stylist's own and archive
What this shoot paid
An established title, so a real fee. Still under a commercial half-day, and it took the same amount of everyone’s life.
Shearling, Runway
Show coverage · Janerations, autumn presentation- Photography
- Odile Auberge
- Show production
- Janerations
- Styling
- Bexley Ferreira
- Hair
- Devendra Rai
- Make-up
- Nnenna Achebe
- Model
- Anouk Thiessen at Meridian
- Manicure
- Perpetua Lindgren
- Assistant
- Halvor Ndiaye
- Retouch
- Odile Auberge
- Garments
- Janerations, knitwear collection
What this shoot paid
Show coverage pays properly because the deadline is brutal. Images delivered by 2am for next-morning press.
Collar, Autumn
Lookbook · Vestry Atelier, autumn/winter- Photography
- Odile Auberge
- Art direction
- Vestry Atelier
- Styling
- Marisol Okonkwo
- Hair and make-up
- Fiadh Ó Braonáin
- Model
- Rosalind Achterberg at Grove
- Production
- Auberge Two
- Manicure
- Perpetua Lindgren
- Digital tech
- Halvor Ndiaye
- Retouch
- Kwabena Asare
- Garments
- Vestry Atelier
What this shoot paid
Commercial. This one pays for the two above it, which is the honest shape of the year.
1 of the 5 shoots above lost money.
The crew
18 people made the 5 frames above.
- Anouk Thiessen at Meridian Model
- Auberge Two Production
- Bexley Ferreira Styling
- Devendra Rai Hair
- Fiadh Ó Braonáin Make-up · Hair and make-up
- Halvor Ndiaye Set design · Digital tech · Assistant
- Ilhan Yusuf at Grove Model
- Janerations Show production
- Kwabena Asare Retouch
- Marisol Okonkwo Styling · Casting
- Nnenna Achebe Hair and make-up · Make-up
- Odile Auberge Photography · Retouch
- Perpetua Lindgren Manicure · Assistant
- Rosalind Achterberg at Grove Model
- Saoirse Delacroix at Meridian Model
- Tuuli Rehn at Grove Model
- Vestry Atelier Art direction
- Wend Magazine Casting
Rates, said out loud
Editorial does not pay. That is not a complaint, it is the arithmetic.
| Kind | Day rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Independent title | $0 – $400 | Expenses often unreimbursed. Everyone on the call sheet is there for the book. |
| Established title | $500 – $1,500 | A real fee. Still less than a commercial half-day. |
| Show coverage | $1,200 – $2,000 | Paid properly because the turnaround is overnight. |
| Lookbook | $2,500 – $4,500 | Plus licence, quoted separately by media, term and territory. |
| Campaign | Quoted per job | Where the licence usually costs more than the shoot. |
So why do editorial at all?
Because it is how the book gets made, how you meet the stylists who recommend you, and how commercial clients find you. That is a working answer rather than a romantic one — and the shoot above that lost $830 is the reason three paid jobs happened.
Commissions
Five things in the first email.
What a commercial enquiry needs to say, so the first reply is a number rather than a question.
- What is being shot
- Garment count and whether there is a model changes the day more than anything else.
- Where it runs
- Lookbook, e-commerce, paid social and outdoor are four different licences.
- How long you need it
- A season, a year, or no end date. It is the cheapest thing to decide early.
- Who is art directing
- You, us, or an agency. All three are fine; not knowing on the day is not.
- The date, honestly
- Casting and crew are booked in the same week. A moving date costs the crew, not us.
Common questions
Before you write.
Why publish what a shoot paid?
Because the numbers are the only honest explanation for how this business is shaped. Editorial is subsidised by commercial work in every fashion studio in the country, and pretending otherwise leaves young photographers budgeting for a job that does not exist.
Will you credit everyone?
Always, on every image, wherever we control the caption. If a title drops the block we ask once and then we hold the line: we do not post the frame without the crew on it.
Do you shoot tests?
A few a year, with people we want to work with rather than to fill a day. A test where nobody is paid should at least be a test everybody chose.
Can you work with our art director?
Preferably. A strong deck makes the day faster and the results better. What slows a shoot is not direction, it is direction that arrives at eleven.
Who books the model?
Whoever is paying, usually. We will run casting if you want it and it is a line on the estimate — options, fittings and the agency booking fee, which is 20% on top of the model rate and surprises people every time.
Do you retouch in-house?
Small jobs yes, volume no. Kwabena is credited on the frames he worked on, which is the same reason everyone else is.
Contact
Tell us the five things.
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