Shoott Connects Photographers and Clients, Promises $100/Hr Minimums
A new photography start-up Shoott has created an online platform where clients can quickly find available, vetted photographers for brief 30-minute photoshoots and promises the shooter a $100 per hour guaranteed minimum rate.
The new company provides on-demand professional photography service in the shape of “Insta-worthy” 30-minute outdoor photo sessions that are free for clients to book and gives customers the choice to pay only for photos that they want to keep, starting with $15 per image or less if purchased in a package of ten or more images or if purchased as a full gallery. With a core mission of making professional photography more affordable and accessible, the company says that it also wants to empower local professional photographers.
Shoott claims that it understands the difficulties of unreliable gig work — thanks to a team comprised of photographers, actors, designers, writers, directors, and other freelance artists — and wants to provide a more steady influx of jobs for photographers that would allow them to book multiple sessions in the same location to help generate a steady paycheck. The company also takes away the less desirable business aspects of photography — marketing, sales, and customer service — to allow shooters to fill their extra time with Shoott gigs, instead.
To guarantee a $100 minimum hourly rate for photographers, the company maintains a rigorous hiring process and only accepts photographers that pass certain criteria. It includes professional equipment, a solid portfolio, especially one that shows family and wedding photography, experience in composing and posing, a creative eye and expertise to work well with natural light, skills to confidently lead a shoot, and the ability to adhere to Shoott policies.
The company claims it accepts only the top 5-percent of photographers who apply, and its shooters have an average of $150 and above hourly earnings, an average tip size of $18, and offers a 60-percent commission on net sales. The company also works around the availability of each photographer and sends them as many clients as they can handle in one single convenient location.
The vetting process sounds similar to Feast It, though does not sound quite as rigorous as the “only one in 10” photographers accepted that the United Kingdom-based company claims.
Currently, Shoott offers different types of portraiture options to prospective clients, including but not limited to lifestyle, family, newborns, maternity, engagements, fitness, business and acting headshots, model portfolios, and more. Clients are given a gallery of lightly retouched images that they can pick from to purchase. For an additional cost to clients, the company also offers professional retouching and other services, such as custom shoots.
To fill a niche demand for better travel photos instead of basic phone selfies, a similar business model was created by the app SnapMob, which offers tourists to hire a nearby photographer for a quick photo shoot. Although this company hasn’t implemented a strict vetting process — and allows anyone to be a paid photographer with a smartphone or a camera — it claims to connect clients and photographers in real-time without the hassle of scheduling, phone calls, and expensive or time-consuming shoots.
At the moment, Shoott clients can book sessions in numerous locations across the United States and Canada, but the company also plans to expand internationally into Europe and Australia in the near future.
Image credits: All images provided by Shoott and used with permission.
