BTS 1: How to Take Your Portrait Client from Consult to Shoot
In BTS I, I take you behind the scenes from the day of my first conversation with my client to the day of her photo shoot. In this episode you'll hear intimate details of this process from our first discussion through details related to getting the shoot set up in the studio. You'll get the lo-down on what happened, what should have happened, and what should have happened better. You're getting the real deal as to what happens when you manage the different aspects that need to go on in order to make a photo shoot happen and to make it an enjoyable quality experience for your client, your team, and for yourself. As an extra bonus, the show notes contain images from the shoot so you can hear and see what goes on BTS. Here are some highlights and some photos from this episode:
[04;46]…and we talked for a bit and she was quite specific about what she wanted…Now, this was a very important conversation, because it's the conversation where we get to know a little bit about each other.
[11:16] Anytime she had any questions, shoot me a text call me email, what have you, I'm always available, I make that arrangement…Because I offer the reassurance of whether or not I think something will work and it solidifies my involvement that this isn't just show up on the day of the shoot, and I take your photo, this is an ongoing process from the time you make that phone call because you're interested, and the time that you book until the day of the photo shoot.
[13:33] I like clients to be as prepared as possible for their photo shoot, because I think the more they know going into the photo shoot, they'll be so much more comfortable on that day.
Welcome Card
Beauty Guide Side 1
Beauty Guide Side 2
Style Guide Side 1
Style Guide Side 2
[18:02] Another thing that I should have done, which I didn't, was I should have advised the client about signing a release in order to use her photos. And I should have also informed her of some sort of a contract between the two of us, even though this was a portfolio building session on my part, and there was no payment involved.
[28:16] It's pretty much up to me to figure out in my mind, what lighting complements what it is we're trying to do…This is something that you have to figure out before the client arrives. This is something that should be in your head, days ahead of time, and ideally even written out because I think when you write some of these things out, you get a better vision, you get a better perception of what's doable and what's possible.
[34:21] You need to be mindful of the age of your client and their physical status. Having said that before the photo shoot long before you need to figure out what poses to compliment a person and it doesn't matter if the person is on the shorter side or if they're very tall, or if they are more round or curvy or if they're very slender. Posing is not a you know one size fits all.
[52:10] And when someone shows up with your client, it's perfect because now you have a live person instead of a mannequin, and that makes all the difference. So her mom very kindly assisted. And if you've listened to other episodes, you know how important using a light meter is. So we metered for the lights. And then we assured correct white balance using the Color Checker Passport. And again, if you listen to previous episodes, you know how important this is.
Client’s Mom holding Color Checker Passport
Small section of Make-Up table.
Natural Light
Natural light camera left with v-flat camera right bouncing light back.
Color Checker
Client holding X-Rite Color Checker
[1:01:26] Everybody does something during a photo shoot or building up to a photoshoot where you forget something or things didn't go as planned, there's going to be a misstep someplace. It's just human nature. The goal, though, is always to know how to come back from it.
