Oh boy...first Photoshoot.

[MrPie]

I REALLY thank you guys for all the advice you've given. Yes i've used photoshop for drawings but i've also used it to touch up photography from time to time (pictures are long gone) I'm not wanting to make this a full time career but more of a part time thing. I just finished university and needed something to do while i'm looking to find a job (it's going to be a lonngg while) I really want to do this for the learning experience more than anything because i really love photography. The price for the job was set at £40 and to be honest i don't care much about payment. Some money is nice but i'd never rip them off intentionally. I was confident in doing this because i DO have the time to deliver the best photos that i can possibly do (i'm not looking to charge any money to have the images processed). I'm going to send them an email telling them that i'm not a professional and will still be willing to do the job with a smaller price.

Here's their site to give you an idea of the type of images they already have. I'm going to take the effort to make this work. I'll start taking shots and going through the process of editing them and replacing them with the snaps i already have there.

 

[manaheim]

L40 total??? Seriously.

Holy crap, no.

Look, this is the last thing I'm going to say and then I'm going to bail out because you're following the standard pattern that everyone else here tends to and I don't see any real point in swirling around the drain on the topic, but seriously...

You're making a mistake. You're walking into a job unprepared and going to work so cheap that they're going to treat you like an indentured servant. You are almost GUARANTEED to have more frustrations and problems with this than would EVER be worth the 40 you'll "earn". All the thoughts in your head about "but this is my first job!" and "but I'll get more work from them!"... throw them away. Unless you want to have your part time job here be really annoying work for people who don't respect you or your time and who are going to walk all over you, this is NOT the way to approach this.

 

[12sndsgood]

would you hire a mechanic to fix your car if he said he's never worked on your type of car but hes going to use it as a learning experiment?

 

[MrPie]

40 Per Hour, not total and good point. I'm unprepared and you've guys got me worrying. I'm going to get out of this before it's too late.

 

[manaheim]

OH!

Ok, sorry... god I thought you meant 40 total and my jaw hit the floor.

40/hr seems a little on the cheap side, but not at all bad. But then this opens up the whole "how many hours minimum, do you charge for travel time, yadda yadda" conversation. Again... preparedness.

 

[MrPie]

Yeah i see the amount of 'preparedness' that CAN happen in such things. But the place is relatively close to me. Most of you guys are pros and do it for a living so you factor in travelling expenses, wear and tear of the camera, and then you charge for processing images. It's only really important if you do factor these things in. I don't care about travelling as i'm walking there (takes 15 minutes) and it's only going to be for 4 hours. They told me that it can vary depending on how many garments they get on the day so i simply told them that i charge by the hour so if it takes more than 4 hours then i expect payment for it the additional time. Simples.

 

[manaheim]

Have you ever learned something that, upon learning it, you later realized how little you knew and how astonishingly naïve you were about it?

This is one of those things.

If you think it's simple, then you're in that mode of not knowing what you don't know.

It's not simple.

 

[manaheim]

Ok I said I was going to be done and I've sort of failed that. I've given you some ideas that I hope will be helpful. The rest is up to you to research and prepare.

Good luck.

 

[JClishe]

The most important factor to delivering quality images of their clothing is lighting. You mentioned they have 2 light sources which you said are umbrellas. Umbrellas aren't lights, they're modifiers. So, do they actually have lights or just umbrellas? If they do have lights, how are you planning on firing them? Do you have experience with off camera flash? Do you know how to set your cameras aperture and shutter speed for off camera flash? Do you know your cameras sync speed? Do you know how to control ambient light Vs flash with your aperture and shutter speed? If you take the first picture and there's a black bar covering half the image on the LCD screen, do you know what common mistake you've just made and how to fix it?

I cannot possibly stress enough how inadvisable it is to attempt off camera flash for the first time while in front of a client on a paid shoot. This gets all my nope's.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

it's not my type of thing and i've never done it before.

...What do you think?

Your words sum it up perfectly. NEVER practice on a paid client. They are likely expecting an experience professional and deliverables that reflect that. Politely decline this job, walk away, practice, learn, grow, repeat.

This has disaster written all over it.

 

[MrPie]

Yep, which is why i've declined the job. This thread has opened my eyes a lot.

 

[MLCIII]

At least you saved yourself from having to chop off all those pretty girls' heads.

 

[ronlane]

MrPie, I applaud you for the decision. It's takes fortitude to set pride aside as you have done. Keep practicing and stay around here and learn. You have shown a great attitude despite all that has been thrown at you in this thread.

 

[MrPie]

MrPie, I applaud you for the decision. It's takes fortitude to set pride aside as you have done. Keep practicing and stay around here and learn. You have shown a great attitude despite all that has been thrown at you in this thread.

It was tough and i felt like crap when i read those comments but i knew i was probably getting myself into a mess. I'm going to keep practicing and find some students who need photos taken for free. Best way to move on and up.

At least you saved yourself from having to chop off all those pretty girls' heads.

I already saw some pictures on their website of heads chopped off.


http://puu.sh/3an5H.jpg

(MrPie, TPF does not permit the posting of images to which the poster does not hold rights/permission; I've changed it to a link for you)

So yeah... :lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

 

[nycphotography]

I would add:

Money back guarantee for the first job. If they can't use the results, then you don't charge them.

That way, even if you're in over your head, drowning can be a learning experience for you, and at cost to them.