Some of the questions from food photographers about working with clients are usually, “where do I find clients?”
“Who do I reach out to?
“I don’t know which brands to pitch to?”
“Who’s next?”
When we want to earn a living as a photographer, doing what we love, we have to continuously be in the process of reaching out. We need to know where to focus, who are those brands or people that we can help and our services can be of value to them. When we identify who our potential clients are, our chances of working with them, and moving forward in our business, increases.
10 types of food photography clients
There are at least 10 types of clients you could consider working with depending on your skillset, interest and experience.
1. F&B product brands
As food content creators our no.1 clients would be F&B product brands. Go to your pantry, or open your refrigerator, pick up your most favorite product and that’s it. Go online research about them, think of what you bring to their brand and just go ahead and reach out.
By aligning your values, beliefs & choices with the brand of your choice you double your chances of working with them because brands love working with creators who believe in the same things as them. So, F&B product brands would be a no-brainer place to start and the opportunities are endless.
2. Kitchen appliances
And since we are in the kitchen, our next category of clients are kitchen appliances.
Whatever appliances you use and swear by, reach out to those companies. Since they produce kitchen appliances, most of them need visuals that showcase how to use their products.
These brands are particularly looking for bloggers or recipe developers, video content creators, sometimes influencers and even photographers to feature their product. So there you have a whole new kind of client to work with.
3. Lifestyle stores or retailers
When we step out of our kitchen the third place to find photography clients emerges – retailers or lifestyle stores. These stores are also looking for content creators. They want to showcase the products they stock or why customers should buy the best blender in town, which is on sale.
The good part about such clients is that they are generally looking for both categories of creators – recipe developers and photographers. If you don’t specialize in either, pitch for what you do.
4. Restaurants
If you’re a commercial food photographer and your skills are at creating still life food photos or motion, food videos. The very first place to start would be restaurants. Restaurants are always in need of photos, that is how they sell and market their innovative food. Start with your favorite restaurant and then keep going down the list. Just like F&B products, even with restaurants, you can align them with your values.
5. Hotels
The other good place for commercial photography or videography are hotels. We often think that restaurants are as far as we go but hotels are great for commercial work and you should most definitely reach out even if you feel like they’re out of your league.
It might feel intimidating to reach out but if you really want to work with them, don’t hold back, reach out. Be confident in your skills and know what you can execute if you get the job.
6. Magazines
If your style is editorial then magazines are your oyster. Seeing your work in print is a whole different feeling and so is being on the cover. Usually grocery stores have an aisle of magazines right before checkout. See which ones align with your style or interest you. It always helps to have worked with a local magazine to pitch to global ones because sometimes they do ask for experience. So, magazines are definitely an editorial destination.
7. Newspaper
The other editorial destination to consider are newspapers. Most local or national papers have a food section where they cover a segment on homecooks, chefs, latest restaurants and other food related content. Sometimes newspapers work with inhouse teams but they also work with independent photographers on a project by project basis. If you like covering food content in that manner, then reach out to the newspaper you love. Make sure you’ve done your homework and seen where you might fit in.
8. Creative Agency
The next client type is a creative agency. Many brands don’t work directly with content creators. They hire agencies that create content for them. So it is the agency that works with writers, photographers etc to create the marketing material for a particular brand. It takes a little extra effort to get your foot in the door with good agencies but once you do, you’re set because you don’t just create content for 1 brand. You get to create content for most of the food brands that work with that agency. So typically, the work is on-going, abundant, perennial and you don’t have to go looking for clients. The downfall though is that you might have to create photos for a brand you don’t like, support or align with. So it may not be 100% your choice but working with creative agencies is an incredible way to move forward and make money.
9. Photography equipment brands
The next category of clients is photography gear companies. Look at all the gear you use from your camera, tripod, lenses, lights, editing software, they are all potential clients. These brands are not only paying clients but you could consider collaborations, workshops or become their brand ambassador. Like always, make sure you understand their product well and are very clear how you can help them elevate their brand and take it forward.
10. Food bloggers
One category that is often overlooked is other content creators. Bloggers, influencers, stylists etc. might be very skilled in one area of expertise but might need help with their photography content creation. Think of other creators as potential clients too.
You could be engaged for regular content production or collaborations or shooting a cookbook etc. You could bring your skills together with theirs and create powerful photos or videos for them and get paid for it.
Those are10 categories of food photography clients. Think of where you fit, what style suits you, what your skill level allows, who can you help and then go ahead and pitch and reach out.
With so many possibilities, you always have the opportunity to bring money into your business, to actually get paid doing what you love and not having to think – ah, who should I reach out to.