Thoughts on my first gig - H
It was exhausting, but a great learning experience. Tip #1. Leave baby at home. I ended up carrying her in the Moby for a good hour which made things a little more tricky. At one point, I was holding her in the carrier, had the film camera over my left shoulder, digital (w/a relatively heavy zoom lens, and a hotshoe mounted flash) in my right hand, and left hand blocking the sun to prevent flare. (I left the hood at home.) My right hand was very tired from holding a few pounds of camera w/o the support of my left hand. I think one of my fingers is sore.
I was a little nervous going in, especially b/c I needed to use the flash. I borrowed a Speedlight from a friend about a week ago and thought I'd learn to use it and then go shoot this party. Little did I know that flash photography is a whole other animal and much more complicated than I would have thought. So, with what little I knew about how to operate the flash, I went to shoot this party. It's was a bit disconcerting b/c I had a lot less control of the camera b/c of my limited knowledge of the flash, so I had very little idea what the photos might look like and how the flash was going to effect the photos. That being said, I was pretty happy with the photos. I don't know about the "client"/friend though. They haven't seen the photos yet.
Though this was a pretty casual gig since I was photographing for friends, it made me think about the business side of things - what my policies might be if I ever went into business. I was looking into child portrait photographers, and one person I came across doesn't ever release her digital files to her clients. (Some photographers will let you buy them at a later date...well I know that about wedding photographers, anyway.) I found that a bit annoying b/c as a client I would consider those to be my photos since they are photos of me, and I feel like I am entitled have them. However, being on the other side of things for this gig, I realized that those are really the photographer's photos, the work of the artist/photographer, and the client happens to be the subject of his/her work. "...but I'm paying for the photos..." Well, we're really paying for the artistry, the eye, and the expertise of the photographer. This was one of the most interesting lessons learned - to see the perspective of both the client and photographer.
I think I realized that I like taking photos of people. Landscapes are great, and I love nature, but I think especially landscapes are just too immense of a subject for me to capture in a photograph. I never feel like I do it any justice, and I don't often feel an emotional connection. I appreciate the beauty but don't feel any twinge of connectedness. (I can't fully describe this.) The other thing too is that nature can't be manipulated, and to get a great photo, the money shot, you often have to get lucky or spend hours or days waiting for the right conditions, that beautiful light to illuminate your landscape. That's not feasible for me. I think photographing people is much more manageable, and I think that's what I like...for now. We'll see what else develops in the future though.
One of the most important things in a photographer/client relationship is communication. That way you ensure that everyone is well informed about everything, but especially the expectations/desires of the shoot. The photographer will still use his/her own eye, skill, aesthetic to capture those images but will be sure to try to capture those elements that the client would like. I was really glad to learn this lesson.
I'm sure there's more I learned if I dig deeper. I don't know if this is the first step toward something bigger in the future, but I enjoyed the experience.
Lastly, I want to give a shout out to my E. I left for the party at 11AM. E decided to stay home until I left so that he could help take care of baby and relieve some stress from the morning so I could be more relaxed going to the party. It was indeed such a big help! Thanks, E!
I was a little nervous going in, especially b/c I needed to use the flash. I borrowed a Speedlight from a friend about a week ago and thought I'd learn to use it and then go shoot this party. Little did I know that flash photography is a whole other animal and much more complicated than I would have thought. So, with what little I knew about how to operate the flash, I went to shoot this party. It's was a bit disconcerting b/c I had a lot less control of the camera b/c of my limited knowledge of the flash, so I had very little idea what the photos might look like and how the flash was going to effect the photos. That being said, I was pretty happy with the photos. I don't know about the "client"/friend though. They haven't seen the photos yet.
Though this was a pretty casual gig since I was photographing for friends, it made me think about the business side of things - what my policies might be if I ever went into business. I was looking into child portrait photographers, and one person I came across doesn't ever release her digital files to her clients. (Some photographers will let you buy them at a later date...well I know that about wedding photographers, anyway.) I found that a bit annoying b/c as a client I would consider those to be my photos since they are photos of me, and I feel like I am entitled have them. However, being on the other side of things for this gig, I realized that those are really the photographer's photos, the work of the artist/photographer, and the client happens to be the subject of his/her work. "...but I'm paying for the photos..." Well, we're really paying for the artistry, the eye, and the expertise of the photographer. This was one of the most interesting lessons learned - to see the perspective of both the client and photographer.
I think I realized that I like taking photos of people. Landscapes are great, and I love nature, but I think especially landscapes are just too immense of a subject for me to capture in a photograph. I never feel like I do it any justice, and I don't often feel an emotional connection. I appreciate the beauty but don't feel any twinge of connectedness. (I can't fully describe this.) The other thing too is that nature can't be manipulated, and to get a great photo, the money shot, you often have to get lucky or spend hours or days waiting for the right conditions, that beautiful light to illuminate your landscape. That's not feasible for me. I think photographing people is much more manageable, and I think that's what I like...for now. We'll see what else develops in the future though.
One of the most important things in a photographer/client relationship is communication. That way you ensure that everyone is well informed about everything, but especially the expectations/desires of the shoot. The photographer will still use his/her own eye, skill, aesthetic to capture those images but will be sure to try to capture those elements that the client would like. I was really glad to learn this lesson.
I'm sure there's more I learned if I dig deeper. I don't know if this is the first step toward something bigger in the future, but I enjoyed the experience.
Lastly, I want to give a shout out to my E. I left for the party at 11AM. E decided to stay home until I left so that he could help take care of baby and relieve some stress from the morning so I could be more relaxed going to the party. It was indeed such a big help! Thanks, E!
posted by haed at 4:53 AM
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