Sophie Traynor Questions and Answers

The basis of the questions we asked Sophie were very much to do with the practicalities of being a freelancer. Some key questions were the following. 

How do you Price a Job?
She bases her prices largely on each job which comes in and dependant on the budget. If she were to work with a friend for a small job, she would charge a lot less than if she were working for a large brand with an equally large budget. In addition to this, Sophie sometimes goes with standard day rates which also entitles the client to use the images in one country on a certain number of platforms. She is very clear with usage to her clients too.

Is there anything you would do differently?
An important question for us as students due to graduate. To which Sophie  tells us to cease every opportunity you are presented with along with working with more people.

What is some advice when graduating uni?
Sophie spoke incredibly honestly here and mentioned the importance in outsourcing the things you are bad at, including hiring an accountant to help you with your taxes. This lead her on to saying to keep an eye on tax, too.

Lastly, some tips I gained from this lecture with Sophie included:

• Talk to your peers for a confidence boost and crit
• Work is an opportunity to forget about things for abit
• Be positive
• Test Shoots are for everyone to come together and test new ideas
• Golden rule is if you have tested for free with people, don't sell the images commercially
• If you are approaching someone on instagram, do it on your professional profile. Make the message personal, too. 
• Give people a reason to respond
• People need gentle reminders
• You will know in your gut if you can't do a job
• Everyone can bite off a little bit more than they can chew, otherwise you won't challenge yourself and push out of your comfort zone, making you stay still
• Calculate risks
• Don't sell yourself too cheaply but be reasonable
• Be more worried about getting work rather than money after graduation