My first photo shoot this weekend :)

OfMikeandMen · Apr 24, 2013

I have my first photo shoot this weekend with a Business graduate from UT. I've sent her samples of my photos, and she loves them, which makes me feel more confident in my ability to take her pictures. My girlfriend, an experienced photographer, will also be there to help me. However, I am excited and was wondering if anyone has any tips? I mean, I've gone out shooting a lot, but this feels more "official" and I'm kind of nervous. I'm not really a social butterfly, which, actually, is what I'm more nervous about than my ability to take photos! Haha. Anyways, I'm pretty happy right now.

Tiller · Apr 24, 2013

Have your girl chat with her. Girls love to chat! That way you don't have to talk to anybody

tirediron · Apr 24, 2013

Tiller said:
Have your girl chat with her. Girls love to chat! That way you don't have to talk to anybody

That's a quick path to failure. If you're going to photograph people, you MUST be able to talk to them, and you must be able to direct them. Guiding the subject, whether it's a passport photo or a Vogue fashion shoot is as critical to the final outcome as knowing your lighting. If your girlfriend is exerienced in 'people photography' than squeeze her for every possible tip you can get on this subject, and search for YouTube vidoes (there are lots) by pros where you can watch them direct the subject(s). Sit down with her and plan a 'strategy' beforehand, whereby you will do all of the talking, but if you falter, she steps in, gets things back on track and then steps out again. If she does all the talking and guiding, you're not going to learn nothin'!

Tiller · Apr 24, 2013

tirediron said:
That's a quick path to failure. If you're going to photograph people, you MUST be able to talk to them, and you must be able to direct them

It was meant to be tongue-in-cheek

In all seriousness, talking to others is a useful skill in all areas of life. In general, men have a harder time at it then women, but it can be learned. Practice is key as with anything else!

Derrel · Apr 24, 2013

My advice would be to keep things simple. Take LESS gear than all you own. Do not bring every lens you own, unless you own just TWO lenses. Find some decent light, or create your own lighting scenario with flash.

Keep in mind that catchlights in the eyes add eye-sparkle, and keep the viewer's interest on the subject's eyes. Find some places where the light is GOOD. Very good. Great, if you can find it. I have no idea where you are located...you might live in a state where April has lovely lighting. Or not.

Second piece of advice is to take a little bit of time to get the basics correct. Format the cards at home. Check the camera settings at home. RAW + JPEG Large, Fine compression. Lenses cleaned. Camera eyepiece cleaned. ISO set properly. White Balance NOT set to Incandescent from last night's stop at the village tavern, and also NOT set to ISO 3,200 from the house band's rousing rendition of Moves Like Jagger.

When you start to set up each shooting location, get the exposure RIGHT. Figure it out. Take a minute or so to do it even. And then, shoot the scene. Tell her that you will shoot 4,5,6,7 frames of each pose, and then a new pose will be established, and tell her that not every frame must be "perfect". Tell her that you will direct her into a pose or position, then will have her hold it, or refine the pose, and you will click off 4,5,6,7 frames, and then refine the pose, OR move on to the next pose. Literally, tell her these things before the session starts. When her expectations match yours, she will immediately feel less pressured to "take great pictures".

Shoot at no more than four locations within a 30-minute time frame. Do not make this a long,drawn out ordeal.

By "tell her" I mean, literally, describe to her how the actual shots will be made. Let her know that not every shot is a winner, and that you will be shooting for a 1 out of 5 keeper rate. Tell her that ,"Not every shot is going to be a keeper," and tell her that you will be shooting freely, and not worrying about missed shots or odd expressions, blinks, or anything like that. This frees people up from trying too hard. You absolutely want to TELL a subject exactly HOW YOU want to conduct the shoot. This works very,very well. People need to have an understanding BEFORE the shoot...people often have very oddball, or unrealistic, or very self-demanding pre-conceptions of how a photo shoot must be handled. Approaching it the way I discussed will really help.

best of luck to you.

odagled · Apr 28, 2013

^ Great advice!

Sent from my iPhone using PhotoForum

tirediron · Apr 28, 2013

Tiller said:
tirediron said:

That's a quick path to failure. If you're going to photograph people, you MUST be able to talk to them, and you must be able to direct them

Click to expand...

It was meant to be tongue-in-cheek

In all seriousness, talking to others is a useful skill in all areas of life. In general, men have a harder time at it then women, but it can be learned. Practice is key as with anything else!

Ahhhh, gotcha!

tirediron · Apr 28, 2013

Outstanding 'How to' guide by Derrel!

success100 · May 7, 2013

Derrel said:
My advice would be to keep things simple. Take LESS gear than all you own. Do not bring every lens you own, unless you own just TWO lenses. Find some decent light, or create your own lighting scenario with flash.

Keep in mind that catchlights in the eyes add eye-sparkle, and keep the viewer's interest on the subject's eyes. Find some places where the light is GOOD. Very good. Great, if you can find it. I have no idea where you are located...you might live in a state where April has lovely lighting. Or not.

Second piece of advice is to take a little bit of time to get the basics correct. Format the cards at home. Check the camera settings at home. RAW + JPEG Large, Fine compression. Lenses cleaned. Camera eyepiece cleaned. ISO set properly. White Balance NOT set to Incandescent from last night's stop at the village tavern, and also NOT set to ISO 3,200 from the house band's rousing rendition of Moves Like Jagger.

When you start to set up each shooting location, get the exposure RIGHT. Figure it out. Take a minute or so to do it even. And then, shoot the scene. Tell her that you will shoot 4,5,6,7 frames of each pose, and then a new pose will be established, and tell her that not every frame must be "perfect". Tell her that you will direct her into a pose or position, then will have her hold it, or refine the pose, and you will click off 4,5,6,7 frames, and then refine the pose, OR move on to the next pose. Literally, tell her these things before the session starts. When her expectations match yours, she will immediately feel less pressured to "take great pictures".

Shoot at no more than four locations within a 30-minute time frame. Do not make this a long,drawn out ordeal.

By "tell her" I mean, literally, describe to her how the actual shots will be made. Let her know that not every shot is a winner, and that you will be shooting for a 1 out of 5 keeper rate. Tell her that ,"Not every shot is going to be a keeper," and tell her that you will be shooting freely, and not worrying about missed shots or odd expressions, blinks, or anything like that. This frees people up from trying too hard. You absolutely want to TELL a subject exactly HOW YOU want to conduct the shoot. This works very,very well. People need to have an understanding BEFORE the shoot...people often have very oddball, or unrealistic, or very self-demanding pre-conceptions of how a photo shoot must be handled. Approaching it the way I discussed will really help.

best of luck to you.