Creating a "cheatsheet" for future shoot's, your advice appreciated.

[NicD]

After going over a lot of my past shoot's, i thought it would be handy to create a list of things, that i need to either think about more or focus on when shooting.

I tend to rush into my shoots, and just have fun instead of pulling myself back a bit and thinking more about the photography side of it, so hopefully this will help me to produce better photograph's at these shoots.

After coming up with a few thing's, i'm interested as to what everyone else would write if they were to write "help" cards for shoots.

So what would you write?

So far i have the following things:

Think, compose, adjust, think, shoot.

- Is the lighting ok?
- Where is the light coming from?
- Where are the shadow's landing?
- Is the pose good?
- Does the pose make the model look awkward?
- How can I improve this shot?
- Shoulders back, good posture?
- Angles? High, low, side?
- Hand placement?
- Leg placement?
- Composition? Are their hands still seen?

Thank you in Advance!

Take Care,

Nic

[photobitz]

Yes, all that. Off the top of my head how about...

- Choice of lens - the longer the focal length the more blurred the background. On the other end, 24mm is about as far as you can go without affecting proportions.

- Aperture - remember aperture choice will affect depth-of-field as well as exposure.

- Shutter speed - Do you want motion frozen? Hair in wind, model frozen mid-air etc.

- ISO - Probably less important for people shots but you probably want to keep as low as possible. That said, adjust if necessary to achieve the effect you want.

- Placement of model - having your model up against an object will create shadow. If this is unwanted, add some soft lighting.

- Theme - Match your environment to your model and their outfit. Needs a little forethought obviously.

[coalcliff]

Background,

is there a pipe sticking out of the subjects head that you dont see until they get their pics!

[photobitz]

Background,

is there a pipe sticking out of the subjects head that you dont see until they get their pics!

Speaking from experience? :lol:

[JustinLawrence]

I usually try and think in the following order (very generally).

For shots with good available light: composition ISO, aperture, flash?, composition.
For low light or shutter speed sensitive shots: composition, ISO, aperture, check TV and adjust ISO and possible compromise on Av to suit, then composition.

another think i try to remind myself of frequently is, "don't be a statue, move your feet!"

tbh the hardest thing for me is to remember to keep an eye on ISO, too many times i shot whole evening on 1600..argh!

[photobitz]

LOL. Yeah, telltale sign of not changing your ISO back is getting the OK from your meter when shooting f/8 & 1/100 in the dark.

[coalcliff]

Speaking from experience? :lol:

Once, years back, had a pro tog take a head shot of me for work, and the silly billy had me at my desk, nice shot of me as I am so photogenic, but there was this ugly carton growing out of my head from a shelf behind me. It was not a "pro" Shot, he was not happy when I raised the issue on receipt of the pic, Sheesh, bloody photographers!

[NicD]

Thanks guys, good useful suggestions here!

[NicD]

So far i have:

Planning the shoot:
- What is the theme of the shoot?
- What will the models be wearing?
- Where will you shoot?
- Who are the models?
- Who is going to help you?
- How are you going to get there?
- Are you going to use natural light or strobes?

Before the shoot:
Background:
- Where is the most pleasant background?
- Is there anything distracting in the background
- What is the best angle for the background?
- Does the background suit the theme?
Themes
- Does the model’s clothing suit the theme of the shoot?
- What are the Poses you already have in mind?
- What are the lighting styles you already have in mind?
- What does the model think suits the theme?
Look of the shoot:
- What is the look you are going for?
- Off camera flash?
- Natural light?
- Headshots, full body shots or scenery shots?

Preparing for the shoot:
- Len’s/body clean?
- Batteries charged?
- Filters cleaned?
- Memory Card’s empty?
- Bag’s fully packed?

Anything i have missed and should add?

[photobitz]

Spare underwear?

[coalcliff]

Mr Nic, you cannot talk about clothing, theme and background without talking about hair and make up....