Those who have no experience of photography at all always comment on what a fun life I must lead when I tell them what I do for a job. The life of a photographer is typically perceived by those without any experience in the field as being similar to how the profession is frequently portrayed in movies: the photographer shows up to a shoot, presses a few buttons on a set that is ready and waiting for them, and then goes out drinking with the models.
Of course, the reality is much more intriguing and less glamorous than that! Let’s look at an example of a typical shoot day in my career as a corporate and portrait photographer. It’s possible that I used a little artistic license in this journal.
Several weeks before the shoot day
A client calls or emails to request a price for taking business headshots. Due to the fact that they work for a major corporation, they frequently attempt a growing number of ludicrous justifications for why they are unable to pay more than the cost of a coffee.
read or listen while offering the standard quote for a fair fee. Wait for the client to realise how affordable the price is before booking the session for a few weeks.
A week before the shoot day
Clients send emails outlining what they are looking for. They need numerous headshots of various clients taken against the same background. But the word “funky” is what they refer to. Saying something like, “We’re searching for some extremely funky and edgy headshots, that demonstrate what a “happening” firm we are.” (I may have slightly paraphrased here. life of a photographer here becomes more adventures.
I used to get quite enthusiastic when customers indicated they wanted something new and would come up with tonnes of various ideas when I first started shooting in the corporate environment. What I’ve discovered over the years is that the term “funky” is typically code for choosing a grey background rather than a white one and possibly even pushing the envelope by taking some photos sans a tie. Study this. In the long run, it will save you a tone of time.
Shoot day in (life of a photographer)
A large thermos of industrial strength coffee, my helper, a car load of equipment, and I got up early to navigate through London’s rush hour gridlock.
Visit the client’s office, then park the automobile. Another piece of advice: if you’re shooting in a crowded place, make sure you arrange parking with the client. Nothing is worse than arriving someplace and either having to park expensively or having to park far away and carry your equipment back to the location.
There is the customary misunderstanding at the front desk because the staff claims to know nothing about the photo shoot. Client is eventually located. There is a space For the headshots. It’s unusually not a cupboard’s size. Fast lighting setup is a must for corporate shootings because time equals money.
A straightforward three-light setup is used to generate even lighting across all of the subjects and maintain consistency in the images. This is simple to set up and doesn’t need constant fiddling, which is important for shots that need to go rapidly.
Workflow & Being a people person
Corporate workers lead busy lives and hold significant positions. They frequently don’t genuinely feel important or busy, but they want to give the impression that they do. As a result, you almost never get more than 10 minutes with each individual in this kind of situation.
A photographer must enjoy interacting with people. We need to rapidly asses and give proper treatment to each topic. Direct and move participants into appealing angles for their body and face shapes while engaging shy clients in conversation to make them forget the camera, making stupid jokes, and joking about with the more confident.
As the session progresses, the assistant uploads pictures and transforms as many RAW files as she can. Setting up actions in Photoshop in advance of corporate photos like this helps to save a tonne of time and accelerate the retouching process.
The day after the shoot (life of a photographer)
Go through all the pictures in order. when we talk about life of a photographer people thinks it is it. I try to provide customers with at least 10 headshots per subject to chose from, which is typically way too much. It’s typically only a matter of resizing images and cropping them to fit because the shots are already converted from RAW files and the lighting was set up properly. Unfortunately, corporate clientele consistently tend to include an alarmingly high percentage of individuals with untrimmed nose hair. Most people probably don’t picture shaving their noses when they think of photography. Sadly, it is frequently necessary.
Several months later
Payment for the shot eventually shows up after multiple emails and phone conversations in which blame is laid at the feet of a fictitious accounting department. In the world of photography it is often accepted that the worse the payers are, the bigger the organization.
I actually love what I do and the fact that every day is different, despite the minor difficulties. This is but one day among. this is all about Day in the life of a photographer.