Loving through the chaos

Starting Out : Pep Talks

Although this might be your seventh session this week, more often than not, this is your client’s first session… ever…  And while you’re totally a pro at the whole behind the camera thing, your clients, most likely, are not professional models.

And they’re probably kinda sorta absolutely TERRIFIED.  Terrified they’ll look terrible, terrified they’ll feel stupid, terrified the photographer will need to spend 3 hours Photoshopping EACH image in order for it to look halfway decent.

I’ve learned over the years, through experience and feedback, that it really helps to prep your clients with a few words of wisdom before every session.

Here are the main points:

1.  I don’t need you to smile and laugh the whole time, but always be “on.”  Don’t let your face drop, don’t check out of the photo session. (I usually accompany this with a demonstration of what one would look like if they “checked out.”)

2.  Always assume you’re in the photo.  Even if you’re sure the photo is only of the child or the wife or your hands, pretend you’re in the photo.  Because you might be.  And if everyone else is awesome, but you’ve “checked out,” even if you’re waaaay in the background, we can’t use it.

3.  If I tell you to do something, and it’s uncomfortable, don’t do it.  If you’re uncomfortable, it’s going to show on camera.

4.  (If kids are in the shoot) No matter what your child is doing- NO MATTER WHAT-  you’re in a good mood.  Tantrum photos can be salvaged if parents are laughing.  Plus, if parents get upset, kids get even MORE upset and we might as well go home.

These few words, spoken three minutes before we begin help immensely.  It helps your clients to have some sort of tips to hold onto, and it helps in your camera roll afterwards, when you have engaged, comfortable, relaxed photos to choose from.

And now a picture from a recent session that I LOVE.  Not just this photo, but the whole session.

Starting Out: Something omitted

Although I don’t read him much, Hemingway is one of my favorite authors.  I remember this short story he wrote that I read in high school.  It was about a man returning from war, and about all the things he’d seen and about how that had completely changed him as a person.  In the end, his girlfriend and he are sitting by the water, and they know it’s over, even though neither says it out loud.

The whole story was a page and half.

It was so deep and so beautiful and so poignant.  And so short.

Something omitted.

Hemingway didn’t need to detail every harrowing adventure the returned soldier had experienced.  He didn’t need to document every awkward date the soldier’d had with his girlfriend upon his return.  He didn’t need to tell us what the veteran had for breakfast that morning, the color of the boats in the water, or the sound of the cicadas in the distance.

He gave us the framework and knew we were clever enough to figure it out.  He knew you could tell as story effectively without stating the obvious.

Photography is like that, too.

I took this photo at a shoot on Friday morning.  And I can’t stop looking at.  Not just for what it contains, but for what it doesn’t contain.

You can’t see Mom or Dad’s face, but you can just imagine their enthusiasm.  Dad’s protective hands are there for the moment he falls.  Mom’s jazz hands show she’s so excited to see her baby walking.  And the look on Baby’s face as he runs to see her.  You don’t have the full picture on camera, but your mind can make up the rest of the story.

And really, that’s what this photography thing is about- storytelling.  Try doing it sometimes with something omitted.

Starting Out: Play Nice

I think this post is more of a “life lesson” post than a simple photography post.  So, everyone- EVERYONE- gather around.

Ps.  This is not posted because I’ve had a bad experience.  On the contrary.  My mother always taught me, “Save it for the car.”  That is, if you have something bad to say about someone, keep it to yourself until you’re in the car and you’re SURE no one can hear you.  If you forget it by the time you get to the car, it wasn’t worth saying.  If you remember in the car, it STILL might not be worth saying.

Here’s the lesson- be nice.  All the time.  Nice.

Smile at the cashier.  Say thank you to the bus driver.  Hold the door open for strangers.  Tip your waiter.  Wave to the mailman.

Because you never know who they are.  You never know who they know.  You never know who’s watching you.

Imagine this:  someone cuts you off to get into the bus faster than you.  You swear, you spit, you stick out your tongue.  You make it known in a very immature fashion that this person has made you angry.

Then you turn up to the wedding you’re shooting the next week and he’s the father of the bride.

Awkward.

Or imagine this:  Someone is considering hiring you, Googles you, finds your blog, your Twitter feed, your FB page, etc.- finds that ugly comment you made about that friend you USED to have, that one who now makes your life miserable.  And after reading said ugly comment, potential customer is totally put off and doesn’t hire you at all.

Oops.

I’m not saying we should all be pushovers.  I’m not saying we should walk on eggshells just in case a potential client HAPPENS to see us randomly in the street.

I’m saying there’s a time and place and a proper way to handle situations.

I’m saying you have to pick your battles and the way you fight them.

I am saying that YOU are your business.  YOU are your selling point.  Be mature, be polite, be NICE.

And now for a photo of the three nicest boys I know.