Unicorns and paid photography

[Mannings]

So, the story goes that i took some pics of my kids on the back of a unicorn... Turns out the images have been a bit of a hit. There are 5 families wanting the same for their children and want to pay me to do it. The people who own the unicorns have set this up and as well as photos they will be offering horse drawn sleigh ride around the local area. Story telling in woodland with medieval harps... I have asked someone for some magical inspiration to help me with the creative side of it and now i need to research the technical side of it. Its one thing shooting ones own children with said unicorn but quite another when some one wants to pay me to do it.

My considerations so far;

Bad weather - we have a warehouse that we could set up an indoor studio. The horses are working animals and have no issue with lights or flashes. ALthough potential nightmare

Spotters - with children sat on a unicorn there also needs to be adults around them incase of emergency. How do i hide them or keep them out of shot...

Equipment and lighting - 35mm & 70 - 300mm as well as the kit lens 18 - 55mm - my only lighting source would be an open warehouse door and an off camera flash. Would it even be worth buying basic lighting for this without the months of time i would normally need to get to know what i want and need

Posing - Children with unicorn. Adults with unicorn. Im not a people person and not well versed in how to pose a human around an equine.

Creativity - creating the magic; setting, in camera and post production

Settings - indoors outdoors, still and movement. My skills have come on leaps and bounds but fairly inconsistent.

Printing and Pricing; How do i even begin to think about this? Do i put images on memory sticks to give to the family or charge per print.

Expectations: people are paying. The pressure is on.

Fun. This is a fun project - full of magic... i need to keep it that way!!

This is an exciting project - obviously daunting too. There are of course many more considerations however they are all bumbling round my head and i cant straighten them out to think about them properly.

Words of caution and words of advice both equally gratefully accepted!!! What else would you put on my list?

 

[Braineack]

Fun. This is a fun project - full of magic... i need to keep it that way!!

Apparently! Unicorns are imaginary magical creatures. Good luck.

 

[sm4him]

Insurance, man, insurance!!!

It's all magical fun and games until one of those unicorns decides to spear the little boy who keeps yanking its mane.

:lmao:

 

[Mannings]

The people who own the animals have public liability insurance I'm looking into if what were doing is covered

 

[tirediron]

A number of random thoughts in no particular order. First and foremost, make sure you have your own liability insurance. Fine the people who own the animals are insured, but I will bed that if little Suzy or Billy get hurt, or even scared badly, Mom & Dad will sue EVERYONE in sight, and as the photographer, you will likely be seen as responsible (regardless of whether or not you are). I would not TOUCH this without insurance!

Lighting: This is going to be almost impossible to shoot indoors without lighting, and given the size of a horse and the working distance you will need, I can't see doing it without a couple of monolights and decent size (as in >48") modifiers. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that your lenses are slow; the 35, which I assume is your fastes lens, is, unfortunately rather too wide to be used for portrait work.

Handlers: Essential, and the easiest way to "hide" them would be to shoot indoors, dress them in black, and use a low-key lighting pattern. Unfortunately, without some decent lighting, that's virtually impossible. The other althernative would be to have one handler, and dress him/her up in costume (fairy/fantasy) so that they look like they belong in the image; remember, the easiest way to hide something is in plain sight!

Cost & deliverables: Determine your hard costs, the value of your time, factor that into the probable number of sales and then double that to serve as a starting point for the session fee. If this was something that I could knock out in say 5-10 minutes per session, I would probably want $20, so I'm guessing $40ish for a digital file. If they want prints, that's extra.

This does sound like a very cool project, and I think it has serious potential, BUT... based on your equipment, and your post, I'm not 100% convinced that you're at the stage where you can pull it off. My thought would be to perhaps practice a little more, improve your gear a bit (renting is always an option, especially for lighting kit) and then tackle this when you're more ready for it.

 

[Mannings]

Fantastic reply, thank you. In short, no I'm not ready for this- however, in the past I've managed to pull off a challenge and as long as I get the research and practice in it will be a huge learning excersise that will stand me in good stead for the future. I'm beginning to think it can be as easy or as complicated as I want to make it. If I get to take these shots in the woods like I hope to, I will be fine... The plan b is bringing it inside... For which I have the space, but not neccarsarily the expertise

 

[Gavjenks]

the 35, which I assume is your fastes lens, is, unfortunately rather too wide to be used for portrait work.

?? People use 35s for portraits all the time.

In fact, a wide lens might work really well in a situation like this. Keep it level with the midsection of the child on the horse (about halfway from the bottom to the top of the kid in their mounted position), and you will get very little bothersome perspective "distortion" in the child. But then since the child is near the top of the horse, the horse will be very perspective-y, with large head and back and legs flowing away narrowly a bit toward a vanishing point off the frame somewhere. The result could be a pretty cute looking cartoony sort of scene that might actually work very nicely with the whole fantasy / child-like imagination sort of theme of unicorns.

Also, the perspective "distortion" would highlight the horn of the unicorn by making it especially prominent!!

 

[The_Traveler]

Ladder.

Check with the handlers but my guess is that the unicorns, as imaginary as they are, are not spooked by ladders or other still mechanical devices.

IMO, the horses legs are pretty unnecessary (except for the horse), so if you compose around getting the front part of the horse and the child prominent in the frame, you will have a winner. You could do this by getting approximately up even with the child on the ladder and shooting from there. The 35 might be quite useful for that shot. I certainly would try it in advance.

 

[tts]

Sorry no advise, but would love to see the photos when they are done good luck and a much fun!

 

[tirediron]

the 35, which I assume is your fastes lens, is, unfortunately rather too wide to be used for portrait work.

?? People use 35s for portraits all the time.

In fact, a wide lens might work really well in a situation like this. Keep it level with the midsection of the child on the horse (about halfway from the bottom to the top of the kid in their mounted position), and you will get very little bothersome perspective "distortion" in the child. But then since the child is near the top of the horse, the horse will be very perspective-y, with large head and back and legs flowing away narrowly a bit toward a vanishing point off the frame somewhere. The result could be a pretty cute looking cartoony sort of scene that might actually work very nicely with the whole fantasy / child-like imagination sort of theme of unicorns.

Also, the perspective "distortion" would highlight the horn of the unicorn by making it especially prominent!!

Very true, and people also shoot outdoor portraits on sunny, August days at noon without supplemental lighting; that doesn't mean the results are as good as they could or should be. At the end of the day, this is a portrait of the child (or at least that's the what the parent is paying for) and the horse is nothing more nor less than a 1500 pound prop. Lew's mention of the ladder is the key; the way I would see this is junior seated on the horse, looking foward, and the photographer on the ladder shooting from in front of the horse using something like a 70-200; key light about 20 degrees off-lens axis, and a fill one stop down 90 degrees on the horse's side.

 

[Mannings]

Here are the pics i did with my own children - please excuse the watermark i couldnt locate my non wm ones. These are what folk have seen and have loved... WHen i took these we didnt have a decent background or space so it was with 35mm and clutter is evident. I thought id post these to give you an idea of what im doing! Thankyou for LL the encouraging posts. Its appreciated.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I was going to ask - how did you get the shots of your own kids? Maybe doing something similar along with making sure an adult is nearby but out of the frame.Besides looking into insurance you might think about the parents being the ones to get their child on and off the horse etc., or even setting an age limit for children to participate. Is a rain date a possibility if you can't shoot outdoors as scheduled?

This seems like a lot to get together apparently in a somewhat short amount of time. I don't know that learning lighting, posing, etc. and preparing for the business aspects of this, etc. is realistic to do if this will be happening fairly soon. I might prioritize and think about what you can offer that you're capable of doing with the skills and equipment you have already - what's realistic to offer?

 

[Mannings]

I was going to ask - how did you get the shots of your own kids? Maybe doing something similar along with making sure an adult is nearby but out of the frame.Besides looking into insurance you might think about the parents being the ones to get their child on and off the horse etc., or even setting an age limit for children to participate. Is a rain date a possibility if you can't shoot outdoors as scheduled?

This seems like a lot to get together apparently in a somewhat short amount of time. I don't know that learning lighting, posing, etc. and preparing for the business aspects of this, etc. is realistic to do if this will be happening fairly soon. I might prioritize and think about what you can offer that you're capable of doing with the skills and equipment you have already - what's realistic to offer?

Thankyou for your very sensible, bring me back down to earth post. Postponing in case of rain really isn't an option and no... it isn't at all realistic - however the demand for this is intense and i need to do it one way or another. This opportunity has come along WAY before im ready for it but its come along, non the less. I have made some head way today with somethings i was struggling to understand. I have full shift at work tomorrow and will get back on it after then. After the first day i imagine there will be many more and problems will get ironed out with each one i do. I making the day much bigger now than it ought to be to try and take the pressure off the togging side of it. The information i have received from you guys has been fabulous and has given me lots to think about.

Thankyou again.