Sophie Traynor - Guest Speaker
Sophie Traynor is a Freelance Commercial Photographer based in Liverpool. Today I had the pleasure of attending a webinar that she presented. Throughout the webinar, Sophie spoke about her experience in the photography industry and the tasks that she has taken along the way. She shoots beauty, fashion, food, and product photography all commercially.
Sophie is originally from Huddersfield and went to university in Norwich where she graduated in 2013. After moving back from university, she was offered her previous job back in a bar but she didn’t want to go back into bar work. Her old boss then said that they needed advertising doing for the business. During the same time, Sophie was offered a photography technician job at her old college. She then decided that she would take any job that she was offered, she then photographed horses, pregnant people, and couples.
Sophie spoke about when she felt like she got her first '“proper” job. A girl that she had gone to university with was an intern for fashion brand ‘Gorgeous Couture’ and mentioned that they needed a photographer. In 2015 she was offered a job for Russell Hobbs, shooting food. At the time she had never shot food photography so for two weeks she taught herself how to. She mentioned how she would take jobs and teach herself certain skillsets if she was unsure. Sophie went on to shoot for Sasson hair salon, Influencers, True Love dance studio, Look Magazine, George Foreman, Remington, GAP, Fairway, London Fashion Week, Azurina, July Child, Never Fully Dressed X Coppafeel, Yeti Creative Company, Primark, Cath Kidston, and Collection make up. She has worked with Primark, Remington, Russell Hobbs, and Sassoon hair salon multiple times.
At the end of her presentation, Sophie held a Q&A. During this session she answered questions about working in the industry. Some of the questions went along the lines of:
How did you price a job when you first started out?
What is one piece of advice that you have for a university graduate?
What advice do you have for shooting food photography?
Is there anything you would have done differently on your work timeline?
Her answers to these were :
She never knew how to price herself and found it complex. Over time she learnt based on experience.
Outsource things that you feel you are rubbish at, build up your skillset. Also, learn how to do your taxes and look into accountants.
Add food images to your portfolio, use natural lighting for food, practice food styling (there are loads of videos online) and outsource help, don’t be afraid to ask for a hand in learning.
Sophie’s advice has inspired me to try out some more food photography to then add to my portfolio. This will also help with a future project of mine based around food.
Here is the link to Sophie’s website, where you can find more of her work: https://www.sophietraynor.com/