Need tips/tricks for first shoot, please

[MonicaBH]

In a desperate, concerted effort to improve my "skills", I put an ad on the local CL for free shoots. The ad is very honest and explains that I am an amateur looking to gain experience. (I also offered free photo shoots to my friends on FB, and have gotten some interest there as well; I have a pet photo session this week, as well as a baby shoot & a family shoot later this week.)

I have had a family contact me, and we have tentative arrangements for about 2 weeks from now at one of the local lakes. We'll be meeting at 0930; this is a family with a 1 & 2 year old child plus mom & dad. I've been reading up on poses and such, and I think I have a reasonable enough grasp on the exposure triangle. Composition has historically not been my friend, but I will continue reading and studying in the mean time. I plan to have the family in the same solid color tones with no patterns.

What are some other things that you can offer or suggest before this happens? Also, how can I ensure my own safety? I know that may be an unfounded question, but I have no interest in being robbed/raped/murdered. :meh:

TYIA.

mods, feel free to move this if it's not in the right place; I wasn't sure where to put it.

 

[KmH]

mods, feel free to move this if it's not in the right place; I wasn't sure where to put it.

Thanks for permission to move the thread.

To ensure your own safety, a Beretta .380 (13 rounds in the clip, one in the chamber) tucked into your camera bag would work.

 

[Buckster]

mods, feel free to move this if it's not in the right place; I wasn't sure where to put it.

Thanks for permission to move the thread.

To ensure your own safety, a Beretta .380 (13 rounds in the clip, one in the chamber) tucked into your camera bag would work.

I wonder if it would be possible to prosecute you and put you in prison if someone were to be injured or killed after following your cavalier advice.

 

[KmH]

It would not likely be possible. Have you ever heard of "tongue in cheek?"

If someone threatens to "robbed/raped/murdered" the only way to ensure your own safety is to fight back.

 

[Derrel]

Personally, I think the caliber-to-magazine ratio aspect of Keith's suggestion is alllllll wrong. .380 ACP and 13+1? A DOUBLE-stack magazine gun for a lady's hands? Nope....he's off base on that...he's thinking like a man from Iowa...like a MAN...the OP is a female....aka "Monica"...I say go bigger and lower-capacity, like say .45 ACP and 7 rounds + 1 in the tube...who wants to have to carry fourteen total rounds of pipsqueak .380 Auto when a mere one round, or less, of .45 ACP will settle most any dispute? The "or less" part comes from that gaping hole in the muzzle end...just the look of that big, black,looming hole and most people will immediately decide their point of view is the wrong one, and will immediately cede the argument to the holder...

 

[Tee]

You're photographing a family, not the local chapter of MS-13. I'd be more concerned with environmental damage to your gear.

I suggest you peruse the YouTube tutorials of environmental portraits with an emphasis on using open shade.

ETA: with regards to feeling safe, bring a friend to hold the reflector, etc.

 

[MonicaBH]

You're photographing a family, not the local chapter of MS-13. I'd be more concerned with environmental damage to your gear.

I suggest you peruse the YouTube tutorials of environmental portraits with an emphasis on using open shade.

I recognize that, but there are have been far too many news stories on hired help winding up dead after replying to a CL ad.

It's moot now, as I have recruited a "lighting assistant" to go with me.

Thanks.

 

[table1349]

Personally, I think the caliber-to-magazine ratio aspect of Keith's suggestion is alllllll wrong. .380 ACP and 13+1? A DOUBLE-stack magazine gun for a lady's hands? Nope....he's off base on that...he's thinking like a man from Iowa...like a MAN...the OP is a female....aka "Monica"...I say go bigger and lower-capacity, like say .45 ACP and 7 rounds + 1 in the tube...who wants to have to carry fourteen total rounds of pipsqueak .380 Auto when a mere one round, or less, of .45 ACP will settle most any dispute? The "or less" part comes from that gaping hole in the muzzle end...just the look of that big, black,looming hole and most people will immediately decide their point of view is the wrong one, and will immediately cede the argument to the holder...

Ahh yes......the old bigger is better argument. Me, I like my 3913 for off duty/backup. Small, compact, light, and with Speer Gold Dot 124gr.+P ammo it has more Muzzle energy and twice the muzzle velocity than the old 45APC 230gr. +P. It is far easier to control than the 45 for both men and women. But then I have worked homicides that were committed with the lowly 22cal short round. I will take placement over bullet size any day. Besides, anyone that thinks that just "viewing the wrong end" of any firearm is good usually ends up with a simple name, VICTIM. If you are going to have and carry a firearm for personal protection you need to #1 be proficient in it's use and #2 and most importantly be mentally prepared to use it with no hesitation. If you are can not fulfill both then don't carry a firearm for self protection.

 

[table1349]

You're photographing a family, not the local chapter of MS-13. I'd be more concerned with environmental damage to your gear.

I suggest you peruse the YouTube tutorials of environmental portraits with an emphasis on using open shade.

ETA: with regards to feeling safe, bring a friend to hold the reflector, etc.

Note to self, MS 13 and other gang members do not have families. NOT!!!

 

[Tee]

Aww, c'mon- you knew what I was trying to say

 

[table1349]

The OP has every right to be concerned and taking precautions is never a bad thing. The general profile of a victim is one who is reactive rather than proactive.

 

[Derrel]

.45 ACP is very easy to control, with its slow, soft recoil. "Hot" 9mm and "hot" .40 cal variants are much more difficult to shoot effectively. "more muzzle energy" and "more velocity" doesn't really stand up very well in the real world against amped-up human aggressors. Yes, on PAPER, a small, high-velocity projectile with a narrow diameter and a (hopefully) expanding bullet design is very effective. Unfortunately, what REALLY counts is one-shot stops, which is where a bullet of 200 grains, or more, moving at 900 fps, or more, and of .40 caliber, or MORE, results in almost instantaneous, one-shot stops against aggressive humans. This has been proven through conflict after conflict, since the days of black powder, right on up to today, in military,police, and civilian settings. Another analogy is in elk hunting: the ANCIENT .45/70 downs a close-range bull elk with one shot from its hopelessly slow, massive, huge-caliber, low-tech bullet; a high-velocity, hopefully-expanding .25 to .30 caliber wildcat round with "more muzzle ennergy" due to HUGE speed advantage...fragments on the shoulder blade and you've got a mess...

A Volkswagon Beetle traveling at 80 MPH has MORE velocity and higher "terminal energy" than a fully loaded Kenworth dump truck loaded with 5 yards of pea gravel but traveling at only 40 MPH...but in the real world, when the VW Beetle hits your car, the car is repairable; when the dump truck loaded with rock hits your car...they pick up the big pieces and them power-broom up the debris that was your car, and bleach the roadway...

Kind of like comparing a 300mm f/2.8 lens versus an f/4.5~ f/5.6 70-300 zoom lens. Bigger is often just simply "better"...

 

[table1349]

If you use high quality high pressure +P ammo the power is respectable. 12 inches being the FBI minimum penetration.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f60/oli700/comparison.jpg Old balistic gel photo. Modern 124gr.+P travels and 1900+ fps.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f60/oli700/Samples_S_UpRight.jpg

Besides, if you are truly serious, this is the only way to go.

I love my Model 29 3" 44 mag with combat grips. Easier to carry than my Colt Anaconda 6".

 

[Buckster]

It would not likely be possible. Have you ever heard of "tongue in cheek?"

That would be a question for the prosecuting attorney and the family/friends of whoever was killed or injured by taking such advice. I'm not sure that your answer would be enough to console them, even with the animated green laughing gif.

Try some tongue in cheek humor that involves weapons and shooting people on the next TSA agent you have to deal with at the airport, and let me know how that works out for you.

Personally, my advice would be to bring another person(s) with me to the session. And if someone DID pull out a gun, my response would not be to pull out another gun and have a shoot-out, hoping to be the one that survives it.

But that's just me and my advice.

You know what's funny to me? That you think concern expressed over the possibility of being robbed/raped/murdered is a laughing matter worthy of a cavalier reply that could easily be taken seriously, but a meme really is serious business.

 

[KmH]

Boy howdy. Talk about funny.

No doubt, the OP would likley need a concealed carry permit. Many people carry firearms for protection. We are our own first line of defense.