The Chemistry of a Photoshoot (part 4)

People are a big part of what most photographers shoot. Be it fashion models, employees, family, or just regular people, most photographers find themselves interacting with people on a regular basis. For this reason it is key to know a few tricks to help put your subject at ease and make them feel comfortable in front of your camera.

Some of the ways to do this have been covered already in previous parts of this series, but I will discuss them briefly just for a refresher.

One of the easiest things to do to make a person feel comfortable with the idea of having their photograph taken is to just walk them through what will happen and how the shoot will unfold. This gives them an idea what to expect, and it also lets them gauge how far along the shoot is.
For example, if you are going in to do a head shot, just let the subject know what you are expecting from them. You can let them know that you will do some light tests first, then have them face the light for a few serious and a few smiling shots, then have them facing away from the light for the same serious and smiling shots. Then they will be done. This helps the subject prepare mentally for what they have to do. It also gives them something to focus on other than just staring blankly at the camera. People like direction, especially in situations they are unfamiliar with.

Ask the subject if they have a preference as to how you will photograph them. Some people favor one side of their face over another, or prefer one pose to another. You may not always have the option to accommodate their wishes, but involving them in the creative process will help them become more at ease.

Get your subject to laugh. If possible, do this when you first meet them. Take a minute or two and talk to them. Try to find some common ground between the two of you that you can chat about for a bit. This will help them see you more as a friend than just a person pointing a camera at their face. A good way to do this is to research your subject ahead of time so that you know something about them. This gives you a point of interest to open a discussion with.
Once they have opened up to you verbally, they will open up to you more 'photographically'. The subject will trust you more and you will be able to make better photographs.

A lot of times people will pose for a photograph and after I've taken one shot they think the shoot is over with. The reason they do this is because they are used to just being in snapshots taken by friends or family. For these kinds of pictures, one shot is enough. But for the quality of work that professional photographers do, there are multiple shots needed. So by informing the subject ahead of time that you will be shooting a few series of shots, it keeps them from starting to walk away from the shoot as soon as you've started shooting light tests!

As mentioned earlier, having music playing will keep awkward silence at bay. If you have the model bring their own playlist, it will give them something familiar to ease their nerves. I find this to be true in many cases in life, not just photography. If I can't sleep sometimes just putting music on will help take my mind off of whatever is keeping me up, and it will relax me enough to allow me to doze off. Obviously we don't want our subjects dozing off so I would avoid playing anything that is slow or quiet, but that depends on the model's taste.

I also mentioned before that the atmosphere has a lot to do with making the subject feel comfortable. If you are shooting in a completely foreign place, the subject may not always feel comfortable. However, you will find that if you can get the person in their natural environment (work or home) that they will be more at ease in front of the camera.

Attitude and energy also help to relax a person. If you are happy to be photographing them, and are in a good state of mind, it will show, and rub off on them. I've covered this pretty in-depth so I won't spend too much time on it, but it is a key factor to getting a subject to relax.

I find that complimenting a person raises their self-esteem and, along with that, their level of confidence. All of this shows in a photograph. If you sense that the model is up tight or nervous, drop a few well-placed compliments and see how well the person responds. Telling someone they look great in a photograph, or that they are photogenic, or letting them know that they are doing a great job can really go a long way to helping them to relax.

People are always more comfortable dealing with other people than with machines or electronic devices. Therefore, try to make eye contact with the subject on a regular basis. If you just hide behind your camera the entire time, the subject will get little human interaction with you and will feel like they are just dealing with a piece of equipment. A tripod may be a good option for you if you have the option of having your subject sit still for an extended period of time. This cuts out the need to hold the camera in place and allows you to just stand and chat with the subject while snapping photographs.

If you don't like using a tripod, have an assistant who can be there to engage the subject in conversation while you are shooting. Often times if someone is chatting and thinking about something other than having their photo taken they will relax. You will want to be careful not to get too many shots with an open mouth or a tongue sticking out, so occasionally just ask the subject to look at you for a minute, and then let them continue their discussion. Whenever possible, have your assistant stand next to you, or as close to the lens as possible. This will keep the eyes close to the lens.

Be respectful of your subject. If there is something that the subject doesn't want to do, try to be respectful of that. The exception would be if you are hired to get a specific shot of a person, and they just don't want to have their photo taken. In this case your hands are tied and you have to use any and all means available to get the shot. Often times though, they will know about the shot before hand and be willing to work with you.

Touching your subject is a topic that is sort of a grey area. I know a lot of people don't feel it is appropriate for a photographer to touch a model. This is something that you must decide for yourself. I normally ask permission the first time and explain what I am going to do - for example, if I need to move hair away from someone's face, or reposition them I will ask permission first. This makes it less awkward, and it introduces your subject to the idea of being touched by a stranger in a way that is much less of a surprise than just having someone reach out and grab them. While it may not always be necessary to touch someone while shooting them, it is sometimes faster and easier to just move a person to where you want them than it would be to try to explain what you want them to do.

Give the subject something familiar to hold onto. This could be a tool they work with often, or something as simple as a clipboard. The prop will provide one more point of "comfort" for your subject. In addition, having something to do with their hands gives them one less thing to stress about, and it will also make for a more interesting photograph.

Another thing that will make your subject feel more comfortable is showing them that you are in control and you know what you are doing. As mentioned earlier on, you are the director of the shoot in most cases. Therefore, if you act as such, the model will be much more willing to follow your direction. If you are acting like you don't know what you are doing, the model may or may not feel confident cooperating with you.

Show an image here or there if you think that the subject will benefit from seeing your work.
This is an easy confidence booster for your model. If your shot is coming out like you had envisioned it and you are excited about it, then it would be a good thing if you can get your subject excited about it as well. If they see that they are the key part of an amazing image, they will more than likely relax a bit more and, as a result, be much more willing to follow your direction.

Finally, sometimes it helps to have friends or familiar faces around. This can be for moral support, distraction, encouragement, etc. Be careful with this one though, as sometimes people feel strange having their photo taken in front of people they know. It can create some awkwardness or even tension in the room. A good way to see how this might work is to start off with people they know in the room with you. Then ask the subject if they would feel more comfortable shooting in private. Do this as discretely as possible so that the other people in the room don't notice what you are doing. You want to avoid anyone getting their feelings hurt because the subject doesn't want them to be there. If they prefer to be in private, just ask everyone to leave as if it is something that you require. This keeps the subject out of trouble.
Personally I would prefer to shoot in private as there are less distractions for the subject to interact with. However this isn't always possible.

I think I've covered quite a lot of ideas in this posting as to how to make your subject relax for you. There are probably as many ways to do this as there are photographers so just try some of these as basic starting points and then work on some things you think of on your own depending on the situation. Remember to try to put yourself in your subject's shoes and think what would make you feel comfortable.

The Chemistry of a Photoshoot (Part 3)

I wanted to discuss the aspect of controlling a photoshoot.
Some of this overlaps with the previous 2 posts.
In order to really be in control you must have prepared everything properly in advance. This will not only give you a good understanding of what's going but will show your client that you know what you're doing. If the client has to do a bunch of last minute running around &
detail finalization for you it will have them questioning your organizational skills in no time.

Also, you must be able to control the energy of your shoot. Obviously there are some things that will always be out of your control, but if you can't keep your subjects interested you will quickly lose control of your shoot.

Having briefly touched on those points, let's move on to some things to keep in mind while you're at a shoot.

Authority.
It is important to establish yourself as the person in charge of the shoot as soon as possible. The only time you wouldn't do this is if you are working with a creative director or another type of director who is organizing everything. However, most of the time, you, as the photographer, will be the one calling the shots.

If you don't establish your leadership over the shoot you will quickly lose control of what is going on. One of the first shoots I ever set up was with a local car club. My initial thought was to get in touch with 3 or so of the vehicle owners & have them let me photograph their cars. I was mostly going for location shots and detail shots.

I got in touch with the person listed on the club's website and he emailed me back sounding enthusiastic about the idea. But then somehow he took my idea and turned it into a huge meeting with 30+ vehicles attending!! I stood by & didn't say anything to discourage him.
The appointed day came and I walked into the shoot so discouraged that I didn't even bother to make a game plan for the people that showed up. I ended up taking group photos and some individual shots of owners & their cars. Pretty much people were telling me what they wanted photos of & I was taking them. Nothing even close to what I had originally envisioned. I shot until my memory card was full & ended the shoot.

I was originally mad at the guy who organized the event, but after considering everything I had to shift the blame back to myself. If I had truly been in control I would have insisted that only 3 or 4 cars come or I wouldn't do the shoot. That was one of several hard lessons learned that day!

I have come a long way since then! The last shoot I was on I sent a whole family to their rooms to change their clothes because the outfits were not working at all in the photos! It ate about 10 minutes of the shoot time but the photos we got after the wardrobe change were infinitely better than the ones before. The family was happy with the end product and that is really what counts.

That leads me into the next thing you, as the photographer, should be getting better at: Direction.

Once you have established the fact that you are the one in charge of the shoot, you have to be able to give direction & communicate your ideas clearly. You can do this by having a go-by image to show the subjects, or by verbally/physically placing them. A go-by image is helpful to have because the subjects can see exactly what they are expected to do. Keep the image handy and visible to your subjects. Whenever possible, have an assistant ready to move the subjects or refresh their memories of the go-by image. If you must physically move your subjects it means leaving your post and having to come back & reset yourself every time an adjustment is required.

You must be able to tell people what to do without being timid about it, or abrasive. If you walk into a room to shoot someone and there is furniture everywhere you must be able to tell whoever is working with you that the shot would look better without it.

If your client is choosing a location for you, you must be able to go to the location and make an assessment as to whether it will work for the shot. If it wont work for the shot then, in the name of making a winning photo, exercise your authority and explain to them why it will not work and offer other suggestions. If the location they picked works then that's great. Marketing/PR people often don't have the same eye for photography as you do though, so its important that if you are given lemons you quickly right the situation and go find some grapes. Don't force yourself to make lemonade unless you absolutely have no other option.

Starting a shoot in a bad location can throw a hitch in your creativity because, in your mind, you will have given up on making a good image as soon as you determined that the location was bad. Your energy will suffer and from there it is all down hill. If you look around and can't find anything better then at least you will have the satisfaction of knowing that this location was the best YOU could find. Then and only then should you start to make your lemonade. But my guess is that if you have control of things, and you have the right attitude, you will make the best lemonade the client has ever had!

Follow-through with what you have said you will do for your client. For example, if you say you will have the images in 3 days, make sure you have the images in 2 1/2! This shows them you are in control of things on your end and that will instill them with confidence, ultimately leading to more work for you. If you can't deliver the images on time, for whatever reason, be sure and call the client with plenty of time and make them aware of the situation. Don't just deliver the images late without letting the client know. It always looks better if you own up to your mistakes than if you try to hide from them.

Finally, follow up. Call the client, make a time when you can go meet with them and go over the images you have shot together. This will give you immediate feedback and you can discuss the shots you picked and why you thought they were worth picking.
Also, if the person you are delivering the images to was not with you while you were shooting, the meeting will give you a chance to explain to them why furniture was moved or why wardrobe/locations were changed. If they just look at the images by themselves they may misinterpret your intentions and be upset that you did not deliver the images they requested.

That's it for this time.
Hope this will be helpful to you as you start to take on more and more shoots.

The Chemistry of a Photoshoot

Not too long ago I was asked to assist a friend who was doing his first photoshoot. It was to be a family portrait, for a family of 4. At the time I didn't think much of it as I assist on a weekly basis.
Plus, the friend I was assisting needed to use lights, which I was going to provide since he didn't have a lot of gear at his disposal. As we arrived on location, I realized that this was not going to be my typical assisting gig.

My friend is in art school, studying photography, but it seems there are still some things you just can't pick up in a class room. Some of those I have been fortunate enough to have picked up over the last year or so of having assignments on my own and assisting another photographer. This is in no way a reflection on my friend as a photographer, but these are the things, I thought, that should be shared on blogs. These are things that are often taken for granted as we skip on to more interesting things such as composition or lighting. Sure learning how to create good photographs is important to the business but if you can't manage a photoshoot then you will not get many opportunities to use your skills as a photographer.

That is where the concept for this little set of posts came from. I'd like to just walk through some of the aspects that are often overlooked, but are so key to having a successful shoot. Some of this stuff I've read in books, but most of it I have not found in text form. It has been picked up from watching others or from personal experience. I'm by no means an expert, but I think I can at least offer somewhat of a foundation to build on.

Some of the things I'd like to talk about include:
- pre-shoot thoughts
- energy
- controlling the shoot from start to finish
- making the subject feel comfortable
- some common pitfalls

First thing I'll talk about today is "Pre-shoot Thoughts".
By this I mean a mental check-list to go through before the shoot, as well as making sure the assignment is understood, etc.

The easiest parts of the check list are things like date, time, location, and subject. These are all things you will be discussing with your client prior to anyone's arrival. Assuming all of this lines up, there are a few other things you will want to discuss with your client prior to shooting.

One of the first mistakes I made as a photographer shooting one of my first assignments was to just start shooting as if I was shooting for me. I framed things the way I thought they should look. I lit them the way I thought they should be lit. I edited them the way I would normally edit a photograph. This is all well and good if you are shooting for yourself. But when someone else's expectations are to be met you can't just do everything as if it was for your own portfolio.

My first shoot resulted in a 4-hour reshoot because the client was not happy with any of my images. I had failed to ask one of the most important questions: "what exactly do you want?"
Turns out the client wanted wide shots of the interior of their house so they could see as many rooms as possible in each shot. What I had shot was more close-up, detailed shots of the rooms. He referred to it as something that looked like an advertisement for a furniture company.
Had I taken 3 extra minutes at the beginning of my shoot to find out just what he expected out of the day I would have saved myself 4 hours of re-shooting, which of course he was not charged for.

Things to consider are things like the useage of the photograph - is it going in a magazine, a mailer, a website, etc. Each of these can require a different type of shot. For example, a photo for a magazine could be, among other things, a cover, a spread, or a small insert. If it is a full page photograph you will need to know if it is supposed to have text printed over it. If so, it is a good idea to pick a background that lends itself to having something printed over it. A plain wall, or a blue sky are good places to start. Text is almost always printed in one color, so having half the background black and the other half white (for example) might require that a half of the text be an opposite color than that of the background. Always try to keep it simple, and keep the final product in mind.

Another important thing is the format. If you are shooting photographs for a horizontal banner on a website it would be a bad idea to shoot all verticals, as only about 1/1oth of the image will be able to be used once it has been cropped down to fit the banner. Likewise, if you are shooting for a cover of a magazine, shooting a horizontal image is probably not the best use of your time.

You are probably thinking that this is all stuff that seems pretty logical, and I would certainly agree. However, you would be surprised how easy it is to forget these details once you are on location and wrapped up in getting the subject to cooperate, lighting the scene, plus getting it all shot within 15 minutes so the room you are in can be used for something else as soon as you walk out of it.

Getting all of these details hammered out with the client before the shoot begins will save you many hours of post processing (trying to convert verticals into horizontals, etc) or worse, hours of re-shooting.

Another important question to ask is when the images are needed by. It would be easy to assume that if a shoot is scheduled for a Thursday that Monday would be an OK due-date. However, it could very well be that the client is on a tight deadline and needs the images by Friday morning in order to meet their deadline. Don't assume the client will let you know of the deadline they are under. They may assume you already have spoken to someone else about it. In which case, if you haven't, they miss their deadline, the images you have just shot become useless, and you will not look very good for having missed the unmentioned deadline. Save yourself the trouble and be sure to ask!

Your check list should also include a question about location permits, or security. Some buildings have security officers who have been instructed not to allow photography. In most cases if you are doing a shoot on location you will have someone with you who will alert security, however this is not always the case. Check with whoever you are working with to make sure all the proper permits and red-tape has been worked through or you may find that you have to come back on another day to shoot. This may ultimately be the responsibility of someone in marketing or PR, but they don't always have experience dealing with photographers and may not know to cover this. Asking ahead of time can prevent a lot of issues. Even if the person knows to do a lot of this, they will know that you are on the ball and are thinking ahead as well. That can never hurt!

Be punctual.

Finally, dress appropriately. Photographers can get away with dressing down a lot of times as they are seen as "artistic", and everyone knows artistic people are weird (heheh). But it speaks volumes about your professionalism if you show up in clothes that are appropriate to the location you are shooting in. Just like I wouldn't go shoot a wedding in jeans, I would never go to a corporate environment in old shorts and a T-shirt. Find out what kind of environment you will be in (business formal, business casual, etc). If the company is a very formal one, you should at least be dressed business casual. This shows them that you respect them enough to put in the extra effort and not stand out all day looking like someone they picked up off the street to shoot their annual report. I would even go as far as to say the same applies if you are dropping off images to a client. If they think of you in a positive light, they will be more likely to call you back for another assignment. It may not seem like much, but dressing professionally can make an impression on all the right people.

Hopefully not all of this was redundant information for you. I will post more soon and share more hard-learned lessons. I'd be interested to hear any comments you may have, or input on things I may have overlooked.