Shooting on my own for the first time

[JoeBannon]

I'll be shooting on my own this Sat. There is a park across the street from me and we'll see how it goes. I got a 580EX flash today so I think I'm ready. Wish me luck.

[Daniel Bates]

What are you shooting?



Good luck.

[JoeBannon]

I have two friends that have volunteered for me. They wants some better photos for their myspace page. I have to buy them lunch afterwards, but hey, it's worth it :-).

[JohnRushing]

Depending on how big the park is I would recomend a smaller caliber round and be sure to find a well concealed high vantage point. Oh sorry! your talking about a different type of shooting huh? J/K, I'm not one of those crazy snipers hiding in a clock tower.

[Daniel Bates]

Originally Posted by JoeBannon

I have two friends that have volunteered for me. They wants some better photos for their myspace page. I have to buy them lunch afterwards, but hey, it's worth it :-).

I've done that a few times - it was always worth it. In fact, I'll be doing something along those lines in about ten minutes... exciting.

[JoeBannon]

Originally Posted by JohnRushing

Depending on how big the park is I would recomend a smaller caliber round and be sure to find a well concealed high vantage point. Oh sorry! your talking about a different type of shooting huh? J/K, I'm not one of those crazy snipers hiding in a clock tower.

No, you're out in the open -lol.

But since you mention it, the park does have a good hill that I can use to make sure I get the right light.

[JoeBannon]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

I've done that a few times - it was always worth it. In fact, I'll be doing something along those lines in about ten minutes... exciting.

I like that there are two of them, one can hold the reflector and flash for me.

[JohnRushing]

Awwwe so theres a grassy knoll ???? Um Hmmm interesting. And a not only a second shooter but a third ??? Yes, Yes, the plot thickens. I suppose you will be keeping the sun behind you and in your "subjects" face?

[Wes]

Originally Posted by JoeBannon

I got a 580EX flash today so I think I'm ready. Wish me luck.

Pssssst..... take a camera, too.

[Clint_Smith]

Originally Posted by JohnRushing

Depending on how big the park is I would recomend a smaller caliber round and be sure to find a well concealed high vantage point. Oh sorry! your talking about a different type of shooting huh? J/K, I'm not one of those crazy snipers hiding in a clock tower.

maybe it was my time in the army, but I love the .223 round. not too loud, more of a pop...and once inside a helmet ....it just kinda rattles around a little bit !

[Steelsun]

The first lens I bought for my camera aside from the kit was a 50mm.
When I told a friend I was going to go shoot some people with my 50mm, he thought I was going sniping (he knew of my days in the Army also, and thought 50mm was 50 caliber).

[Aric C. Hoek]

Joe, everything I am about to write may be understood by you already, but I just feel the need to write tonight. I really have no idea what your background is, so please forgive me if I write anything that is belittling. That is not my intention. The truth is, I am excited for you! You are at a crossroads! Congrats!

First, you need to imagine that these are real clients and they are paying you $300 for this outdoor session. That in mind, you should not shoot any longer than one hour, and you should not spend longer than one hour editing your finished work. And you should not spend longer than one hour showing the work to your clients when they come in to make their selections. That’s 3 hours at $100 per hour. Not bad. And that is without any print sales.

Second, you must project confidence while you are there so you can get your subjects to do what you want them to do. This being your first shoot on your own you may be nervous. What do you want them to do? Have you researched images that you would like to try and emulate? Find some examples of images that you like personally. Select them because you like the style of the image. Perhaps an image with a shallow depth of field to better isolate your subjects so that the finished image will be easily identifiable when seen on their site? An image that is not to busy. Something with a strong leading line running off into the distance to give it some “umph”. Will the subjects be looking at the camera or not?

Find an example of an image that you want to emulate, print it on a piece of paper, show your clients when you get to the park and explain to them that you have done a good amount of research for them in order to give them the best image possible. Show them the image so they can position themselves in a similar manner. Getting someone to pose in a dynamic fashion is a hard thing to do. Can you communicate how you want someone to stand without touching them? If you don’t give direction to your subjects with authority or confidence your subjects will instantly know that you are uncomfortable and don’t know what you are doing. Go into this with the hopes that the end result will be that they will refer you as a confident professional photographer and easy to work with.

So I am suggesting that you create a cheat sheet. Now I know people that reading this are going to say that you are printing images without the creators permission, so I am giving you permission to use anything you want on my site. I am not saying that the images on my site are worthy, but if you find anything that helps, then use it. I am sure others here might let you do the same. I am not sure if fair use copyright laws encompass what I am talking about here or not. At the very least, you can find an image you like and sketch the general idea on a piece of paper so you can jog your memory at the shoot. Whatever. Just make sure you have a game plan before the shoot begins.

Find an image that you want to emulate from somewhere, print it, show it to your clients so they know what the game plan is, take the equipment you need to make the shot happen, and enter the shoot with the mentality that you are about to take the best photograph you have ever taken. Otherwise, what are you doing?

If a photographer ever goes into a shoot without thinking that they are about to take the best image they have ever taken, then something is wrong and they need to re-evaluate their professionalism.

I am reading over what I have just written, and perhaps this is a bit intense, but it is how I approach things. Have a game plan.

What time of day are you going to shoot? Did you choose the time of day, or did you let your clients chose the time for you? If they chose the time of day and you don’t like what they have suggested, call them back and let them know you are in charge and tell them the time that you think is best to shoot. You do want your images to look as good as they can when you post them here on the forum for others to critique don’t you?

What are you delivering for a final product? This must be discussed before the shoot even happens. Are you giving your clients unlimited reproduction rights or are you giving them one time usage rights just for their web site needs? Do your clients know what they are getting as a final product? Have you devised a price list so if they ask you how much a 40” print is you have an answer?

It’s your first shoot. It’s exciting. You are at the beginning. Start with good habits. Get a model release ready so you can use the results from this shoot to advertise for the commission of future shoots without worry of repercussions.

Oh. P.S. If you read this and treat this as a professional shoot… your friends should be buying you lunch and not the other way around.

[JoeBannon]

It takes a lot to get me nervous, which is why I'm so good on stage. These are also friends of mine, not clients. I will probably never do paid photography, I'm only learning it for my own use. If they want prints, they'll have to find someone else to do it for them -lol.

[Aric C. Hoek]

Cool. Looking forwad to seeing the images just the same. have a great shoot!

[Gateruner]

Here is a tip based on your last post. This is your work and at some point you may want to reference it for something. Keep control of the printing whether you print it for them and they pay or you send it to a lab and get it printed and the cover the costs. The key is not to allow your image to be processed by someone or some place that is going to give your photo an inferior look. If all they are wanting is a dig image to pop on My Space then it isn't going to be a big deal but you never know. It is your work, your image and your reputation that will be on display and you never know, you might do this and think it is a blast and decide to try to make a little income out of it.

Have fun and watch the hands and watch the feet. It can drive you nuts to have shot a great shot but the hands or feet mess up the shot and you just cant crop them out with out messing up the image.