Free Photoshoots for brands…are they worth it? Here’s my opinion as a Professional Photographer working in Montreal & Toronto.

My personal opinion is: yes.

I began my career by approaching brands and influencers that I knew I wanted to work with, who were similar to other bigger brands that I also loved and wanted to ultimately work with. That often involved one shoot, with which I would provide a handful of free images for them to use. 

For about a year, I was shooting a lot of free work. And yes, sometimes that free work was for brands who ended up using those images to sell their products. 

Have I ever regretted it? Not once. Those free shoots resulted in a ton of word-of-mouth for my brand.

I'm not suggesting that you all go out and spend years upon years creating free imagery for brands and feeling exploited. You have to be careful about not damaging your market value by shooting a ton of free content too. So, it's about doing something strategic. 

Shooting for free allowed me to prove myself to brands, but also to others. It helped me in the process of discovering my style as well. It gave me the opportunity to build my portfolio, and show them what I could do. I got to add work to my portfolio, be associated with larger companies, and get paid in the long term. 

Pretty much all of those shoots lead to me being hired (and paid real money!) by those very brands (and many more).