Photo Shoot Tips & Advice
You have decided to have a photo shoot done and your all excited looking forward to the big day. Here are a few tips and advice to make your day goes fantastic and get the best images possible. First of all don't panic, relax get a good night's sleep the night before and on the day make sure you stay hydrated and have a meal before you go to the shoot. There is nothing better than be well rested and not being hungry and staying relaxed.
Location.... Location....Location....
This can make or break a photo shoot.
Photography I believe is all about storytelling!
Depending on what your photo shoot is for, if it's for a portfolio for business you may want a certain look and style, a good place for inspiration is magazines and online. You may be thinking of a fashion shoot and might want an urban street look perhaps with a music or graffiti theme. Have a chat with your photographer and discuss with them what your final images are going to achieve. Location can make or break a photo shoot and it's important that your location tells a story for the look you are going for. For example a music punk theme look might not work in a field full of flowers that well but if you have a location for example with graffiti perhaps abandoned buildings this would really add to the story. Look and see the beauty in old abandoned buildings with some creative lighting and the right model and styling you can get some really cool images.
Another example is if you are doing a photo shoot for example, knitted Autumn / Winter garments it would not look right if you chose a city scene in the Summer, but a location out in the country where the landscape is wild and rugged would suit better. This brings me onto a another point, the time of the day. The two best times of the day for photo shoots are early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is low and you get a lovely light, with no harsh shadows. So if you can plan your photo shoot at these times even better especially if you have strong sunlight, another great time for photos that is overlooked are cloudy days. Yes that's right cloudy days give a beautiful soft light especially for portraits. Always be aware of your background for any distractions that might take away from the people in the photo.
The photo below was taken at lunch time in a busy bar and restaurant you can actually see people in the reflection in the mirrors. Some nice off camera flash to the left and camera right and you can create an amazing image in any location, you don’t always need a studio.
Families always tell me that their little child is impossible to photograph and they find it impossible to get their children they stand still and smile. This is such a common query that familes tell me. But don’t worry there are many ways if you think like a kid to get the best possible photos.
Let kids be kids, they don’t have to look at the camera all the time. I always let the children dictate the pace of the photoshoot, I never pressure them and I just let them be kids doing what they enjoy best. Think back to when you were a child and somebody wanted to take your photo, more than likely you didn’t want to have it taken, you wanted to run and play and have fun. Children nowadays are no different, let them go on their own adventure and explore their surroundings, let them sing, dance look for dinosaurs or pick flowers. Let kids be kids.
A brilliant way to get natural posed photos of your children and this will always bring a smile to their face is if they have a pet take that along for the photoshoot. Children are very proud of their pets and they love showing them off and having their photo taken with them. You are are always promised something unexpected when you have children and their pets together.
Pets bring a whole new dimension to a family photoshoot and can in a lot of cases bring a calmness and fun part to the day. You will never have to tell a family to smile when their four legged friends are around. Another great tip is to get your children to tell each a story even about what they think about the photographer let them whisper it into each others and then watch the smiles begin. This can be a great technique to get them to relax. Tell them that you can’t hear what they are saying and they can whisper anything to each other, look as their little faces begin to smile, and the best thing is, its a real natural not forced expression.
Ok so now we are learning how to make your photo shoot really special, but questions I’m asked are how do you get the parents to relax and teenagers? There are several techniques that I employ to make everyone feel at ease. I talk a lot when I am photographing this is to make the families relax and take their mind of the camera so that they forget about it and connect with me rather than the equipment. Now and again I will let them see the images on the back of the camera when they see beautiful images they begin to relax, I ask them what they like to do what hobbies, what sports teams they follow, how did they meet, what is their favourite type of music, etc…. I always like to to do the normal formal posed images but……… I like to have fun as well and get the families take part. The example below I asked the parents to have a quick kiss and whilst doing so I asked the teenage children to play tug of way with them and try and pull them apart, whilst all the time the parents must hold that kiss for as long as possible. This is a great ice breaker and gets everybody in a great relaxed humor, whilst doing so I use my 70-200mm lens which means I can get a good distance away without being in their personal space so they hopefully forget about me.
Have fun with the family and when the children see Mummy and Daddy having fun they will too. It’s moments like these that you will always remember for years to come, I love how the two older children are having fun watching their parents rub cake all over each others faces while the little fella is enjoying the rest of the cake. I love cakes smashes for this reason.
I have said it before photography is about storytelling, so tell a story in your photos. The image below I chose this location for several reasons, the girl and her clothing I thought would suit a landscape like this and as she was from the USA she wanted a real stunning location. She came in casual jeans and knitted jumper and straight away I thought of this place. It was a lovely warm day and I asked her would she mind taking her shoes of for some of the photos, out of the blue this friendly dog came running over and the two of them fell in love with each other. I asked the girl to play and talk to the dog and you can see the eye contact between the two of them. This worked out really well and goes to show you don’t have to have the subjects making eye contact with each other. She lived hundreds of miles from the sea back at home and really was blown away with the location choice I had for her. She has very happy memories of her visit here in Co. Donegal, Ireland on the Wild Atlantic Way.
When it comes to clothing I like to have families wear clothes that won’t date with age, no logos, or styles that you can say was from a particular year. Neutral clothing in most cases in the right location will age timelessly and will never go out of date. Jessica in the image below her clothing style and colours really compliment the location and really worked well.
In every photo shoot that I do I like to try and get some images where the subjects are not looking at the camera I believe it makes for a really strong image and really creates a powerful story. This technique again is great photographing young children when they won’t look at the camera, and it can also be used with adults as well.
In the image below these two amazing characters really delivers a great story line I had some images from this session where they were looking at the camera and in my opinion although the images were beautiful I felt this was a far more powerful image. Combine that with natural pose with out any fancy props and back lighting from the natural sun it turned out really well.
What if the weather is bad and too windy? Unless it’s absolutely pouring down don’t worry about the wind. A great example of this is the image below for a young fashion designer and blogger by the name of Nicola McLaughlin also known as the Sequin Cinderella. This was one of the coldest days for a photo shoot in June and we had hail stones and incredible wind. Nicola had amazing hair and I asked her to turn her face away from the wind and to give a big smile as if it was tropical warm weather, sand and sleet was blowing everywhere. Just as she turned towards the camera with a lovely big smile a gust of wind came and blew her hair. I asked her to pretend that it was warm and sunny and tropical and give a big smile, she was so good and combined with her great clothes that she designed and made herself it was a really good photoshoot. I always tell my models in Hollywood they pay thousands for a wind machine to get this effect here we have it for free :)
This little girl was adorable she loved the camera and it was taken in Summer with harsh light and very contrasty conditions but she made things so easy as she loved to pose. I found a small pool of natural light along this shaded wooden walkway and and this really made her stand out from her surroundings. The lovely soft pastel clothing really complimented the scene.
Country lanes and three friends walking down the lane swinging their arms and having fun, maybe even singing a song along their way. This creates really natural and fun images and the kids love these too. I often get families, children and their parents to sing out loud nursery rhymes, I join in as well, I can’t sing but after the initial awkward feeling of singing out loud in the middle of nowhere you can’t help break out into a natural smile. This is not something I do at the start of a photoshoot but more towards the end. It always works :)
What matters most is that you enjoy your photo shoot and don’t take it too seriously and try and relax and go with the flow on the day. If you would like a photo shoot feel free to get in touch and we can make your dreams happen.