Using your house as a photo-shoot location

When most people consider registering their property with a location agency they do so with filming on their minds. But there is another market for beautiful locations - that of stills photography. Just think about it, virtually every catalogue you open, every magazine you read and every advert you see, has used real life locations as the backdrop for their photographs. And the great thing about this market is that they need locations time and time again - every time they publish a new edition. So unlike filming, when your location might be used fairly infrequently, if you have a location with the right look, it can be used several times a month and in some cases several times a week. 

So what are the differences between using your house as a film location and using it as a photo-shoot location? 

The main difference is the level of disruption. Whereas a film day is 12 hours, a photo-shoot day is typically 9am until 6pm; whereas a film day can mean a crew size of up to 30 people or more, a photo-shoot day is often less than half that number; and whereas a film day can mean your house is unusable by your family while filming is taking place, you can pretty much go about your daily business if your house is being used for a photo-shoot.

The other main difference is in what you can earn, as rates for photo-shoots are generally lower than for filming.  Whereas a film day might start at £1,500 per day, this would be the real top end for a photo-shoot, with many photo-shoots, say for editorial magazines, paying much less than £1,000 per day. However, if you have a popular location, you can easily earn a good income through a regular volume of photo-shoot work with far less of the hassle that comes with filming.

So what are the secrets of success for photo-shoot locations? We will be telling you more about what makes a great photo-shoot location over the next few weeks.