What does it take to photograph a pair of jeans?

I thought you might get a kick out of this.

A number of you sew to sell. And to sell, you will take photographs of your creations to post in your auctions and online shops. Some of you create absolutely beautiful images, images which capture light, expression, a story and the article of clothing. You'll incorporate props and design sets. And very often, you'll come up with something that looks like it came right out of a catalog. And you do that all on your own.

A buddy of ours is a child model and actor. He's been in a number of television commercials and in print ads. He's a totally rad little dude (he doesn't just play one on TV).

Anyway, his mother wanted to share these images with us to help us ponder the question, "What does it take to photograph a pair of jeans?" This friend reports that there were "the photographer and his two assistants, the make up artist & her assistant, a couple of stylists--one for set, one for clothes & their assistants--two animal wranglers & a bunch of other people whose jobs I could never describe" (I like to read that to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"). In addition, it takes the rent on a Malibu villa. And don't forget catering! Our totally rad little buddy is at the low end of the pay scale at $100/hour, four hours guaranteed (let's keep that quiet: My girl usually is paid in Hello Kitty stickers). So, if we extrapolate, that the rest of those people are paid at least $100/hour... I don't think I can calculate that exactly, but I do think I've just shed some light on the question of how a pair of jeans can cost 200 Euro.

This particular advertisement is for some Italian jeans. A bunch of these people were speaking Italian, so that means that a bunch of these people flew over from Italy to Los Angeles to take the picture of a pair of jeans.

I'm not at liberty to mention the manufacturer, lest it be discovered that white polo shirts and jeans were going to be sold in Italy in the near future. Sshhhh....