Comments on: Bring The Studio To Your Client

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:51:00 +0000

Please, please move her about 5 or 6 feet farther from that bg. to avoid those brutal shadows! No big deal. I don’t think we as photographers should ever go with the old “Well the client didn’t seem to mind, so who cares”!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 15:20:00 +0000

I love how the direction of this post did a total 180 from everyone ragging on the shadows and PLM lighting abilities to “If the client likes it, WHO CARES.” This just shows how deep down every photographer feels. We all know she did a good job, it just wasn’t an inspiring setup…big whoop. Our personal work is the stuff we honestly fall in love with, our professional work most of the time is not something we put under our pillows and look at before we get into the shower.

This girl had a job, she did it, they liked it, its over, and on to the next.

Now about this one black model in NC. Maybe I should move up there, I have tons of nice clothes and I’m black and not unskinny. Someone has to dethrone this dreaded dread man. Everyone is always shooting the easy on the eyes bi-racial black people. But look at Tyson Beckford. That dude is as dark as me (color of a diet Pepsi), and he produced some great shots. The super dark contrasty skin against white shirts and bright colors yields a powerful image, that’s why Calvin Klein keeps using the really dark guys.

Not hating on light skinned guys but you had the 1980′s. I don’t want to see anymore of this man on FSTOPPERS LOL jk…….or am I?

By: Patrick Hall

Patrick Hall — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 14:45:00 +0000

Ha yeah Chelsie, he’s like the only legit black model in Charleston. He was also a big college basketball player here so I used him in my pocketwizard review. I wish Charleston had the talent of NYC but unfortunately we don’t.

Good eye though, good to see someone watching the videos :)

By: Joop van Roy

Joop van Roy — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 12:10:00 +0000

This video is a good reminder of how little the lighting and gear setup have to do with being successful. If you can work with clients well and deliver photos that they love, you’ll get hired over and over. It’s really not that complicated.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 09:19:00 +0000

Great preview of the your shoot :)

The key aspect here was simplicity, in the running of the shoot which meant that the 30 outfits could be done withing the 2 hrs, consistent look in the shoots and faster post processing after the shoot :)

Thanks for sharing :)

By: Kevin Liu

Kevin Liu — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:42:00 +0000

It looks like the parabolic reflector also had a white surface, unlike that silver plm. Those crazy reflections are pretty interesting. I kind of like them.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 06:28:00 +0000

That one model with the dreds is in too many of these fstoppers videos. And though this photographer can light her shoots what every way she wants, I can support the lack of use of a HUGE vertical grip which really makes you look pro status. That was the issue with the 5d and 5dmk2, you look like you just got into photography when you shoot without a vertical grip. LOL…jk

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 06:09:00 +0000

Heck yeah Patrick. I promise you, when you show up with huge equipment, people think something MAJOR is about to go down. Models stop texting on their cell phones, people hold your camera after you shoot a few frames, dude it seriously goes down like that depending on the lack of knowledge that is hanging out on the shoot. Most people know what a speed light is and have seen them, but when you put a PLM on a boom and use a tripod with a custom bracket attached to it, everyone shows you respect like you are Bruce Weber. BUT….BUT, we all know that doesn’t make your shots worth a hoot. If you can’t deliver the final product that is good enough to have the client shut up and stop sending in requests for changes, you not only failed, but you have now added hours to your work load because you were too busy trying to show how much knowledge of photography you had and lack of knowledge about how to deliver a final product to the client. Personal work is where are the fun is. Anyone who has done a big commercial project knows that the client is RARELY easy going and just lets you shoot however and whatever you want. I have clients who almost want to take the pictures themselves.

When people start paying decent money, they start micro managing like crazy. This girl was lucky she even got to choose her own lens. LOL

By: Patrick Hall

Patrick Hall — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 04:46:00 +0000

Great comment! It reminds me of a story I heard where the photographer was told by the client that they wanted him to light a particular portrait with 10 different lights or so. The lights weren’t necessary for the type of image the client asked for but when it came time to set the shot up outside, he pulled out all the stops. I’m not sure how he did it but he set all but one of the lights to fire a few mili-seconds after the exposure so essentially the final shot was still only using the single light. The client didn’t know better and thought the photographer pulled out all the stops for their photoshoot.

Sometimes it’s important to make your shoots feel memorable and extravagant. But most important is to please your client with the final images.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:02:00 +0000

Really doesn’t matter how perfect you get the lighting or the focus. If you are a boring photographer, you will have well lit boring photos that only you will enjoy and wonder why the average person flips right past your favorite shot. If you can’t hold the average person’s attention on your shot and you are hired to promote fashion or another product, you have failed.

Being overly concerned with lighting is silly when you are just going to send it to a retoucher anyway. Annie Leibovitz lights most of her shots the same way and then sends them to the retoucher. The issue with many photographers is that they wished they got jobs based on their knowledge of photography and not on their actual talent because then hard work would pay off and people like Terry Richardson would not be more popular than people that shoot with the best equipment and have more camera time. After you dump hours into studying lighting and lens, and spending tons of money, a photographer of this sort can feel angry when the client could care less about your lighting setup and only if you depicted their subject in the best way.

No one outside of photographers cares about your elaborate technique or choice of equipment, they care about the final shot and nothing more.

Her shots were great if the client enjoyed them. Her shots would also suck if she lit it all crazy and perfect yet the client didn’t like them. Your camera lens points out, not inward.

The 86 plm is dope when you put a diffuser over it and pull it out at a remote shoot mounted to a boom . The client thinks “DAYUM this person brings big equipment, must mean we didn’t waste our money”. NO lie. And the diffuser is on backorder, that’s why she didn’t use it. LOL