Thoughts on first Fashion Photo Shoot
This is my first crack into fashion photography, and never having done one before I decided to ride out of my comfort zone to give it a shot. The closest "fashion photography" that I came close to experiencing was doing the photo shoot event at the Dominelli Carnevale last year.
Having an empty white paper in front of me, and with a brush in hand, I'm inking my account of the experience.
The stage:
Mike Lewis of clashphoto teaches Fashion Photography at Focal Point. In entirety, it's a 21 hour class load spread over seven Saturdays, and students are expected to push the envelope in developing and producing professional results. For the final assignment, I was assigned to produce fashion make-up images using 2009 summer color palette. I think I broke out in a sweat when I got the project, and thought that it's a good thing that I'm doing this as a serious amateur, and there are other "work" priorities (excuses, excuses, excuses). I was spinning with too many ifs and buts-too many minds!
However, the second class proved to be extremely beneficial in wiping off the "too many minds". Mike held a one full day of studio photo shoot. He was willing to share his "trade secrets" with his students. This was an awesome opportunity to see everything go live. Pretty much what was covered in theory during the first class was transformed into the practical component. We assisted, we observed, we learned from the "live" photo shoot, that finally resulted in the following---"IN-SEK-TOL-UH-JEE"
A photographer can work on his/her own to produce the image(s), but it takes attitude to step into a different mind-set when doing fashion shoot. It's team work involving models, make-up artists, hair-stylists, fashion stylists, photo assistants and photographer(s). Pulling it together requires the orchestration of these artists to work in harmony in executing the fashion shoot in a single day. This takes professionalism, and amateurism has no place.
After that day, "too many minds" became one mind, and the stage was set. With the help from Kathryn Mussallem, an instructor for Focal Point, and Jennifer Daerendinger of Blanche Macdonald Centre, I received several e-mails from make-up artists (MUAs) wanting to collaborate together on my project. Unfortunately, I only needed 2 MUAs, and therefore the task went to Kristina Capati and MaryAnn Richardson.
As for models, I scouted the local Tango Hall located on Commercial Drive in Vancouver for couple(s) that would be interested in participating in the photo assignment-hence the two couples as models for the assignment.
The first meeting:
I considered a first face to face meeting to be important for this project. Thirty minutes is good, and with coffee. This way, team members get to see who they'll be working with, and that we are all thinking and operating on the same page on what the final image(s) would look. Also, a brief research into the history of Tango and what's about I suppose helped to set the stage for the mood in the photos.
The coordination:
The next was to find a studio that was available for rent, especially on a Sunday; and that everyone's schedule was in sync. Weekdays was out of the question, and I didn't want to shoot close to the deadline for the assignment. Cutting close to the due date just puts pressure on the entire team, leaving out creativity. It's got to be a fun time. Thanks to Tracie Kusiewicz, I managed to get the studio for one day-photoshoot one couple in the morning, and the next in the afternoon. Follow-up e-mails were sent out to communicate on the date for the photo shoot, and I can't say enough that communicate, communicate, communicate to be crucial so that the team knows the schedule. We have other comittements to deal with, and it makes good sense that these the photo shoot lines up well with no conflicts in timing.
The preparation:
Make sure that batteries, including spares, are fully charged up before the shoot. Bring extra fully rechargeable batteries for the work-horse, i.e., the camera, and pocket wizards. It'd be very ackward to have everyone at the studio sitting around chatting-up while the photog's batteries are being recharged. I shoot tethered to my laptop, and made sure that the system works by doing a quick pre-shoot and knowing where those images would end up in the folders. Again, it'd be very embarassing when during the photo shoot, one cannot find those images??? Snacks and drinks, always good to have. It's very distracting when people have to work on empty stomach or running on low juice-dehydrated. Prepare some tunes to rock with, and lastly, what I find to be helpful is to prepare the shoot mentally-having to envision how the day would go, anticipating what could go wrong, and back-ups plans.
Photoshoot Day:
Arrive early, at least 30 minutes before the scheduled photoshoot time. Unloading and setting-up lights and back-drops takes sometime. The less stressful it is the better. The attitude of a photographer can mean a signal to many. So being cool, calm, and collected is called for. And lastly, have fun with the entire process as a team. At the end of the photoshoot, congratulate everyone on the good work. Don't be stingy on the gratitude. I was immensively appreciative to those that came out on a Sunday to help to assist in completing the assignment. Get the model release forms signed.
After the photoshoot:
Follow-up via e-mail thanking again the models, and the MUAs for their time. Stick to the promise to deliver the TFCD material by the expected time.
That is the experience learned from the class, and it certainly departs from working at the amateur level to moving up to the next level, i.e., the professional stage.
Having an empty white paper in front of me, and with a brush in hand, I'm inking my account of the experience.
The stage:
Mike Lewis of clashphoto teaches Fashion Photography at Focal Point. In entirety, it's a 21 hour class load spread over seven Saturdays, and students are expected to push the envelope in developing and producing professional results. For the final assignment, I was assigned to produce fashion make-up images using 2009 summer color palette. I think I broke out in a sweat when I got the project, and thought that it's a good thing that I'm doing this as a serious amateur, and there are other "work" priorities (excuses, excuses, excuses). I was spinning with too many ifs and buts-too many minds!
However, the second class proved to be extremely beneficial in wiping off the "too many minds". Mike held a one full day of studio photo shoot. He was willing to share his "trade secrets" with his students. This was an awesome opportunity to see everything go live. Pretty much what was covered in theory during the first class was transformed into the practical component. We assisted, we observed, we learned from the "live" photo shoot, that finally resulted in the following---"IN-SEK-TOL-UH-JEE"
A photographer can work on his/her own to produce the image(s), but it takes attitude to step into a different mind-set when doing fashion shoot. It's team work involving models, make-up artists, hair-stylists, fashion stylists, photo assistants and photographer(s). Pulling it together requires the orchestration of these artists to work in harmony in executing the fashion shoot in a single day. This takes professionalism, and amateurism has no place.
After that day, "too many minds" became one mind, and the stage was set. With the help from Kathryn Mussallem, an instructor for Focal Point, and Jennifer Daerendinger of Blanche Macdonald Centre, I received several e-mails from make-up artists (MUAs) wanting to collaborate together on my project. Unfortunately, I only needed 2 MUAs, and therefore the task went to Kristina Capati and MaryAnn Richardson.
As for models, I scouted the local Tango Hall located on Commercial Drive in Vancouver for couple(s) that would be interested in participating in the photo assignment-hence the two couples as models for the assignment.
The first meeting:
I considered a first face to face meeting to be important for this project. Thirty minutes is good, and with coffee. This way, team members get to see who they'll be working with, and that we are all thinking and operating on the same page on what the final image(s) would look. Also, a brief research into the history of Tango and what's about I suppose helped to set the stage for the mood in the photos.
The coordination:
The next was to find a studio that was available for rent, especially on a Sunday; and that everyone's schedule was in sync. Weekdays was out of the question, and I didn't want to shoot close to the deadline for the assignment. Cutting close to the due date just puts pressure on the entire team, leaving out creativity. It's got to be a fun time. Thanks to Tracie Kusiewicz, I managed to get the studio for one day-photoshoot one couple in the morning, and the next in the afternoon. Follow-up e-mails were sent out to communicate on the date for the photo shoot, and I can't say enough that communicate, communicate, communicate to be crucial so that the team knows the schedule. We have other comittements to deal with, and it makes good sense that these the photo shoot lines up well with no conflicts in timing.
The preparation:
Make sure that batteries, including spares, are fully charged up before the shoot. Bring extra fully rechargeable batteries for the work-horse, i.e., the camera, and pocket wizards. It'd be very ackward to have everyone at the studio sitting around chatting-up while the photog's batteries are being recharged. I shoot tethered to my laptop, and made sure that the system works by doing a quick pre-shoot and knowing where those images would end up in the folders. Again, it'd be very embarassing when during the photo shoot, one cannot find those images??? Snacks and drinks, always good to have. It's very distracting when people have to work on empty stomach or running on low juice-dehydrated. Prepare some tunes to rock with, and lastly, what I find to be helpful is to prepare the shoot mentally-having to envision how the day would go, anticipating what could go wrong, and back-ups plans.
Photoshoot Day:
Arrive early, at least 30 minutes before the scheduled photoshoot time. Unloading and setting-up lights and back-drops takes sometime. The less stressful it is the better. The attitude of a photographer can mean a signal to many. So being cool, calm, and collected is called for. And lastly, have fun with the entire process as a team. At the end of the photoshoot, congratulate everyone on the good work. Don't be stingy on the gratitude. I was immensively appreciative to those that came out on a Sunday to help to assist in completing the assignment. Get the model release forms signed.
After the photoshoot:
Follow-up via e-mail thanking again the models, and the MUAs for their time. Stick to the promise to deliver the TFCD material by the expected time.
That is the experience learned from the class, and it certainly departs from working at the amateur level to moving up to the next level, i.e., the professional stage.
So what's next? A couple, for starters-the 2009, 8 Oscar awards that went to Slumdog Millionaire centered on the theme song Dreams on Fire (by A.R. Rahman) gave me some ideas.
Finally, for those mentioned above, thank you for your help, honest responses and opinions, and motivation in getting the project done, and on time.
Andrew
Labels: Blanche Macdonald, Fashion, Focal Point, Jeniffer Daerendinger, Kathryn Musallem, Kristina Capati, make-up artists, Mary Ann Richardson, Mike Lewis, stylists, tango, Tracie Kuciwwicz
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