Session Questionnaire

[HDKat]

I have been getting busy and I feel a little lost sometimes.....
So I was hoping someone with more experience has some advice for a pre-session questionnaire. I have a few questions I always ask, but I want to be more thourough. I would like to have a form I fill out for each session that gets me prepared and in the right mind set for that session. Any help would be much appreciated!

[toverman]

Others with much more experience than I might be able to help you develop a form.

For me, I try to forge relationships with clients (it keeps them coming back and has netted me some referrals). I prefer an interview-style session, usually face-to-face, but sometimes over the phone, to really get a sense about what kinds of photos they would like and what they plan to use them for. Questions include what type of feel they want, indoors or out, where will the images be used/displayed/hung, is there a special occasion tied to the photo session?? Etc. I'm never too busy to talk to clients and potential clients.

My opinion (worth .02 cents or less), is that forms are something best left to the doctor's office.

[HDKat]

It would not be a form--ugh--I get the dr office visual. It would be something for me to keep track of my thoughts during the conversations with a client.

[z-monster]

A journal?

[HDKat]

No more like a "Hey Kat don't forget to ask" then a "Hey Kat remember to shoot" kind of thing.

[toverman]

I figured it was something like that but wasn't sure. It can be hard to remember all the things you want to ask someone when the rubber meets the road.

Start with the basics (which you probably know):
• Who will be in the photo? (engaged couple, 25 family members)
• What kind of photo? (formal style or casual or candid or headshots or ...)
• Where is the best place to take it? (backdrop, special places, their home)
• When? (this is more for you, early or late lighting outdoors is best)
• Why? (the occasion behind it)
• How? (also goes to kind of photo ... should subjects be directed?)

For portraits: clothing suggestions (colors, patterns). For weddings: more traditional shots or photojournalistic, what parts does the couple want photographed?

When I was a working journalist, in closing I'd always ask interview subjects, "Do you have anything else to add?" That open-ended question sometimes yielded the most telling answers. It might not be until then that a bride-to-be says that her intended hates to be photographed (something that is very important). So that way you can be ready with jokes or a small flask of liquor to help bring out his inner model.