TFPs - A Great Way To Success Or Failure ?

Illustration by me.

I started photography in 2019 with my Canon 6D Mark II camera. In my early stages, I practiced taking pictures of nature, streets, animals, shops, and travels. The next year, I wanted to go into fashion and beauty photography, so I decided to join Facebook groups to look for models to shoot TFPs. I didn’t know anyone in the industry.

TFP means Time For Print. It’s basically an exchange of services for free. It’s a common thing in the creative world. That really helped me build a network and my portfolio, and get better at photography. 

However, when I started my photography business and still doing TFPs, I experienced that people didn’t value my work as it should. Meaning that many were asking for free collaborations. Then I decreased the amount of TFPs I did and even stopped because when you start a business, the goal is to make a profit with it not volunteering. It’s the same as a model.

Shooting with brands for free can be a great way to get a foot in the door and make cool connexions with people and that’s what I did. But wanting and feeling too comfortable shooting for free, now it’s the way other people’s perceptions stay stuck. 

---