Day 1 of Planning A Shoot: Budgeting For A Shoot Is The Ghetto.

Every time she’d add another zero to the cost I’d run to the toilet.

Hey guys,

I thought of where to share this and I really couldn’t think of a better place than here on my newsletter and here’s why. This place feels like my safe place. I don’t monitor the numbers here like a hawk. The likes and comments do not mess with my head. I don’t feel the need to be funny here. You accept whatever I give and we all keep it pushing.

I have come to respect my newsletter audience (not that I don’t respect my audience on the other social media platforms) because do you know what it takes to subscribe to a newsletter? You have to get out of social media, sometimes on your laptop, and go to a site where you subscribe to emails barging into your mails every week. And you still respond. That’s huge, for me at least.

Hence, why this is where I’ll be sharing this. 

When the shoot was just an idea in my head rather than a reality, my friend who also doubles as my PA, asked how much I was budgeting and I said 150k. LMAOOOOO

She told me it was not going to be enough and I asked if we are doing party. As our conversation progressed, she asked which photographer I’d like to use and when I started showing her the IG pages of the photographers I was looking at, she ended the call and asked me to call her back when I was ready.

I started to DM these photographers and when I heard the prices, I knew I was in for it. I had two options, abort the mission or use someone for money rituals.

You’ll know which one I picked at the end of this letter.

In the middle of this, I called my mum and she asked me if I couldn’t use the photographer that covered my grandma’s burial in Offa. 

If you see what that foolish boy did?

My father couldn’t attend the burial so he photoshopped him into the picture. He helped my daddy put his leg in the air. My brother said it looked like my father was going to join my grandma and my mother gave him igbarun. Me, I shut up before they disown me.

As soon as my mother suggested that one. I ended the call and took a few days off thinking about it to clear my head. The shoot was expensive and I needed to do it side by side with a project I’ve been working on since December 2022 (I am so excited about it and I can’t wait for it to be out.)

After the break, I came back to my PA and we decided to take it step by step. We’d create an excel sheet with all the planning and estimated cost. 

And so we started and HAY!

Every time she’d add another zero to the cost I’d run to the toilet.

At some point, I asked her to stop. I called my mother and asked if her photographer was available. She shouted “ALWAYS AVAILABLE”

Why won’t he be? When it’s nonsense he has been snapping since 1980.

I called my PA back crying and asking her if she can borrow me out of her salary. She no even answer. When I finished talking, we continued because no be me wan do fine shoot?

We settled on a photographer. Now, it was time for my outfit and if you know anything about the Lagos Ready-To-Wear industry, you’d know all of them there carry gun.

I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.