The Life and Times of An Upcoming Photographer
“When life gives you lemons, say, ‘fuck the lemons’ and bail!” — Forgetting Sarah Marshall
I’ve come to realize I’ve been either doing a bunch of rambling posts or none at all, and this idea popped into my head after the last few shoots that I think not only pertains to photography, but in many other business and life aspects. There have been a bunch of shoots lately where I’ve had to showcase a client in 4-5 photos and there REALLY weren’t 4-5 photos to make. Some clients don’t necessarily sell a physical product – PR execs, lifestyle consultants, and even places like skin and beauty care boutiques or art galleries get tricky to sell what they’re selling through images. It’s our job as photographers to be creative, but what happens when you’re only given a little to work with and the well is running dry?
Less is more, right? In some instances, I’ve had to shoot a client’s store or work area, and while it’s nice to get shots that show the interior and atmosphere of the store, some of those shots can look cluttered, busy, and confused. The best approach may be to break it down into pieces instead of one whole subject. Find a few unique things of what the client provides and create chapters to a novel instead of a short story.
When you ask the client about the concept of what they’re trying to sell, the statement they give is usually vague and very generalized. “I provide a skin care service.” “I sell paper and gifts, ranging from blah blah blah.” The pitch they use for their marketing or website is nice and gives you a general synopsis of their concept, but it’s very vague when trying to get ideas for creating a series of photos to sell their product or concept. Be personable with the client and start chatting with them about how they got started with the business or their interests. Not only does this help get the creative juices flowing to give you ideas on a series of photographs, but it also makes the client relaxed and confident in your abilities, thus streamlining the session much better.
When you graduate college, you get excited about not having to do homework EVER AGAIN. Sadly, this is a short-lived dream, once you realize that all of the book work and take-home assignments were merely preparing you for the real world. Before you even meet with the client, you need to do your homework – research their business’ background, history, mission statement, recent activity, etc. When you research what makes this company tick, more often than not you’ll get clues about their branding and concept, which should help guide you on shoot day to piece together what needs to be photographed. Besides that, the client is going to be beyond amazed at how much time you put into preparing for their shoot! (can you say, “repeat business” and “word-of-mouth advertising”?)
It’s always nice to have a shoot when everything is blatantly laid out for you. However, that type of shoot only happens on occasion; most of the time, you’re figuring out what to shoot the day of the session, and with not a lot to work with! Help your creative process out by keeping the above tips in mind and you’ll have much better lemonade – err, I mean a better shoot!