andrewdoeshair
No longer a newbie, moving up!
- Joined
- May 23, 2016
- Messages
- 179
- Reaction score
- 133
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
Sorry I'm about to post so many photos and such a long rant. I feel like it will help to illustrate the cause of my frustration (call this writer's block), and to give you an idea of how much of a n00b I am. I hope that you guys would be able and willing to help me think outside the box. I've been browsing this forum for a few days now, looking for fresh portrait ideas, and I've found a few, but I figure it couldn't hurt too much to start a thread about this, as well...
I shoot haircuts almost every day at work. My social media content is my main source of income, and cutting hair 40 hours per week is essentially for fun and to have an endless supply of willing models. The trouble is, at this point in my career I'm not able to pull the plug on my 9 to 5 so that I can ONLY work with models (maybe I'm just afraid to) so when I'm working with a regular client who is worth shooting I have between 30 seconds and 5 minutes to get the shot, because there's always another client waiting. For a long time I used a plain white wall that happens to be next to my salon chair, and while that worked for a minute, it got boring, and then my images started to look just like every other barber or hairdresser with a white wall.
The other issue I have with this white wall is that I started wanting to get pictures about my clients, not just pictures of hair that I did. For that purpose I started sneaking up on them while they were talking with my receptionist after a haircut. As soon as someone is being polite with the stranger at the front desk they showed a ton of character, whether they were confident and outgoing or quiet and awkward, it became a great moment to tell a story about the person. I missed the friendly smile here but I still liked the way she looks.
When I'm lucky I have time to drag the client outside into this alley. The lighting there is useless during the day (although I haven't tried using a speedlite out there during the day, yet). Even then, though, it can be awkward to get them comfortable for the picture. That's something I really REALLY want to learn, how to get an inexperienced model to look good. This background has been my favorite, so far.
About once a week I stay late specifically to take pictures, and I've been using that time to move lights around and learn. I got my second and third speedlites delivered today, and I'm planning on doing this again with all three this week, but I don't want to stick to the boring wall and end up doing JC Penny portraits of my clients. This picture was taken with a single LED panel, I must've gotten 50 shots with very slight differences in the placement, just kind of seeing what the camera saw so I could train my eyes to start seeing it before I'd even pull the thing out.
The latest thing I've been doing a lot is using a speedlite up above my mirror focused on the client so that I can underexpose the ambient light and make the whole bright and busy salon disappear. The problem with it is that it can be hard to showcase an entire haircut, it's better for just showing parts of a haircut. That's kind of why I got speedlite two and three (fill and hair lights). Hopefully I can dial that in soon.
So there it is. Everything I know how to do with a camera to tell stories about my work. Have you guys seen any particularly interesting styles that might lend to display a haircut well? Are there any tweaks I can try to get more out of what I've been doing? I have very little interesting stuff around my salon to shoot, basically a curb and the stuff in the pictures above. Should I just make it a point to do some on-location shoots in my free time and let my 9 to 5 be just my 9 to 5? Most of the resources I've found on this subject seem so dated or generic, like "here's how you replicate that family portrait your mom forced you to pose for when you were 12." I appreciate you reading this and I look forward to some feedback and (hopefully constructive) criticism.
I shoot haircuts almost every day at work. My social media content is my main source of income, and cutting hair 40 hours per week is essentially for fun and to have an endless supply of willing models. The trouble is, at this point in my career I'm not able to pull the plug on my 9 to 5 so that I can ONLY work with models (maybe I'm just afraid to) so when I'm working with a regular client who is worth shooting I have between 30 seconds and 5 minutes to get the shot, because there's always another client waiting. For a long time I used a plain white wall that happens to be next to my salon chair, and while that worked for a minute, it got boring, and then my images started to look just like every other barber or hairdresser with a white wall.
The other issue I have with this white wall is that I started wanting to get pictures about my clients, not just pictures of hair that I did. For that purpose I started sneaking up on them while they were talking with my receptionist after a haircut. As soon as someone is being polite with the stranger at the front desk they showed a ton of character, whether they were confident and outgoing or quiet and awkward, it became a great moment to tell a story about the person. I missed the friendly smile here but I still liked the way she looks.
When I'm lucky I have time to drag the client outside into this alley. The lighting there is useless during the day (although I haven't tried using a speedlite out there during the day, yet). Even then, though, it can be awkward to get them comfortable for the picture. That's something I really REALLY want to learn, how to get an inexperienced model to look good. This background has been my favorite, so far.
About once a week I stay late specifically to take pictures, and I've been using that time to move lights around and learn. I got my second and third speedlites delivered today, and I'm planning on doing this again with all three this week, but I don't want to stick to the boring wall and end up doing JC Penny portraits of my clients. This picture was taken with a single LED panel, I must've gotten 50 shots with very slight differences in the placement, just kind of seeing what the camera saw so I could train my eyes to start seeing it before I'd even pull the thing out.
The latest thing I've been doing a lot is using a speedlite up above my mirror focused on the client so that I can underexpose the ambient light and make the whole bright and busy salon disappear. The problem with it is that it can be hard to showcase an entire haircut, it's better for just showing parts of a haircut. That's kind of why I got speedlite two and three (fill and hair lights). Hopefully I can dial that in soon.
So there it is. Everything I know how to do with a camera to tell stories about my work. Have you guys seen any particularly interesting styles that might lend to display a haircut well? Are there any tweaks I can try to get more out of what I've been doing? I have very little interesting stuff around my salon to shoot, basically a curb and the stuff in the pictures above. Should I just make it a point to do some on-location shoots in my free time and let my 9 to 5 be just my 9 to 5? Most of the resources I've found on this subject seem so dated or generic, like "here's how you replicate that family portrait your mom forced you to pose for when you were 12." I appreciate you reading this and I look forward to some feedback and (hopefully constructive) criticism.
allteeth
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/32/32926-ec27ecead8c80d803404500d8f888dbf.jpg?1619735754)
