Hello all, I am in the debating stage of starting a commercial photography business. I know getting clients in the beginning is tough, and some people suggest doing work for free to build up a portfolio, which I intend to do.
If I really want to build and tailor my portfolio to the work I want to get moving forward, can I create my own mock photoshoots with brands/products that I believe in, without their permission? I would get to fully express my work without the normal constraints of a typical project, but would there be any copyright issues if I put these photos on my website? I am not directly making money from these images, but I would/could be displaying their logo without their permission. Would I have to blur out their logos? Is this something people have done before? Any insight would help. Thanks
Yes you can do this. The only issue is at a portfolio showing to a client and if they say “was this a job for Hugo Boss” you obviously can’t say yes. You would say its a test shoot. I actually got a job with a fashion brand by doing this, i got some high end clothing / footwear from some friends shot it on various backgrounds at home to fill out my portfolio with more product images - so it can work!