Pricing Your Portraits by Jeff Smith

Author:Jeff Smith [Smith, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781608958726
Publisher: Amherst Media

Master Previsualization

The best photographers use their minds; the weakest use their cameras like machine guns—shooting countless images until something happens to look passable. Machine-gunning (just shooting away and hoping for the best) is the easiest way to ensure you never learn photography. When you are new to photography, this planning process takes time, but unless you start using and developing these skills, you will never improve.

My photographic process is as follows with each client. First, I look at the client as I greet him or her. I look for problems like weight gain, thinning hair, uneven eyes, sagging skin, etc.—things that need to be minimized or softened. I then help the client select the clothing that will work best to conceal any area they will not want to see in the photograph (things that, if visible, will keep them from buying the photographs). As they are changing into the clothing I selected, I begin visualizing how to pose them to look their best and hide as many problem areas as possible while still creating the look or style they desire. From there, I choose the lighting, background, and camera height that best suits the client’s individual needs. At this point, the portrait is created in my mind. I then tell my assistant where everything goes and what background or scene to use. When the client comes out of the changing room, I show him or her the pose, help them into it, and adjust the lighting to them (in the pose). I then take a second to look for any problems with things showing that shouldn’t (bra straps, zippers being down, bulges that shouldn’t show, large arms, hair showing on a woman’s forearms, etc.). After addressing these issues, it’s finally time to pick up my camera and photograph the client.

I use my mind and my skill to create an image; too many photographers today only seem to finally engage their minds when it comes time to edit through hundreds of crappy images to find the few (accidentally) good ones. As a professional photographer, you can’t do photography by guessing or rely on “art by accident.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.