Strange request . Advice please

Hi,

Me
I was asked to do a particular shot today. Im not used to getting paid , so I said id do the job for free , "for practice". I told her that i had just et up the studio , but she none the less perservered with the idea that i needed to do this for them as they couldnt or didnt want to findsomebody else. Their artwork is due on Monday, besides which she couldnt find another studio here in the city. So i have not qualms about " having a go "

Background

Take a picture in my studio of two models they will send. This picture is to be pasted onto a background they have managed to purchase from some imagebank. Below is the mockup the agency sent me. They tell me this is what they want re bag etc. Why they dont want the heads in the shot is beyond me , so ill shoot for "heads and all" ( just in case ) .

Questions if you could help ?

It seems to me though that a good bit of photoshoping will be required on their part to paste in two people in any kind of realistic fashion to ( I assume look as if they are in the restaurant. Maybe they dont want that .. How do i shoot the two models ? Is what they want to do beyond the realm or just beyond my imagination ?

The only thing i can think of

Blow the white background and present to them with a higher colour temp on the pics than the flashes will produce thus warming the models to the same temp as the back ground. I guess my job would be to make the cut out easy , but should i really use a brown background to make this more achievable .

I did suggest spend a few bucks on a restaurant but time or experience seem to be not on the cards for them ( or me ?? ) .

This is a seemingly big agency and its the creative director thats soliciting this shot , so it might lead to someting , any thoughts would be appreciated muchly .

Notes:
The models will not have white clothes , but coloured so contrast shouldnt be an issue for them to cut out ?

*** I removed the picture as it may be bad form for me to have published it whilst its an advert in the making.

You can use a great trick i learned from Russell Brown he shows many ways you can do it in these two videos.

http://av.adobe.com/ru​ssellbrown/BlueSkySM.m​ov

http://av.adobe.com …llbrown/MoreBlu​eSkySM.mov

Thank you for the links, what im trying to find out is , if there is a better way to shoot the pic for the company so they can paste it in easier. I think this is the crux of the matter.

Shoot with a dark or black background you had the right idea.

Or even a white wall and neutralise it with the white balance.

I don't know why you are assuming that it is so hard for this advertising agency to put these people in a different setting from a shot. This is done frequently in the advertising industry so I find this quite normal.

I never question what the advertising agency ultimately wants from me. I will deliver exactly as per their request. If I may not totally agree with it, I may through in a couple of other shots that I feel are creatively better. In this case I too would shoot the models heads but do it in such a fasion that they can still be cropped off if need and maintain the image dimensions that they want (I'm assuming that they gave you technical specs on the images for delivery). Keep in mind that if you shoot the heads, a model release will then be required from the models.

The agency that I work for always provides me with a copy of their creative workup. This will include what color of clothing the models will be wearing. If your biggest concern is shooting the scene so that they can be easily extracted from the background then this information is very important (moreso for you though I think). You then shoot them on a background that will provide the most contrast change between them and the background. If you are entirely sure that the background that you choose will not be used whatsoever you could shoot them using a chromakey background which is designed exactly for this purpose.

Working for advertising agencies can be very frustrating at times but incredibly rewarding. Do a good job and you will get lots of business (or at least this has been my experience), bomb on it and you won't have to worry about any of these questions any time soon. The agency that I work with always sends a creative director on the shoot itself, are they not doing this. Initially I wasn't keen on this idea but after a few times I really like it. If they get the shots and they don't like the poses, I am not on the hook. In the end the only thing that I am responsible for is the technical photographic aspects, exposure, lighting positions, etc.

If they have sought you out and seem adamant that you do the shoot, I see no reason why you would do it for free. It is unlikely that if this is for an advertisement that they will put a credit in the ad. While you will know that the shot is yours, who else will beside you and the agency. Get your fair reward upfront.

Ssim. Thanks for the post and i take your points gladly.

When i look at things from a different angkle yes i see what they are trying to achieve, initally it looked strange for me. Its about mindset as you say.

There is lots of opportunities i think with this agency in the future for this and other types of work. I did not really want to get paid for this , as it puts a pressure and demands a level of skill i am not * sure * that i have. I would like to enjoy the experience instead of worrying about earning the dough. If i make a mess of it , well , im not going to try to Sheldon.. but thats just the way it will be. If i had a business card it would say amateur. If the shoot goes well and i think it will, ill probably regret doing it for free but its a valuable entry for me and ill evaluate Spanish and UK rates for this type of work and give it to her after the event. I dont need to earn money with the camera , although perhaps in the future...


Yes the creative director is coming tommorrow and has been in touch today to confirm they are going to be wearing very dark colours. I think against white will allow a good cut out if they dont want the face ( take the point re model release ).

Once again thanks for posting. I am still working out what backgrounds i want in the studio and will consider a chromakey for the purchsase list.

David, the only things that would concern me doing such a job would be where the client wants the lighting to appear to come from relative to their whole image idea. If you lit things on the wrong side, it would potentially ruin their plan.

The sample has a serious problem with the lighting of the people and the shopping bag (?). The lighting of the people and the bag do not appear to be from the same general direction and may not be what they are looking for.

Well if i look at the background it seems like ambient to me. Beyond the cut and paste being clean in terms of edge , i was concerned that they would not look like they were in the scene at all. This makes me thing a higher temp flat light with maybe a snoot taking up the faces slightly. Id also planned a snoot on the bag to highlight it ( and was thinking a brown block behind the bag here to help them cut it out properly ? They will have dark clothes which lends to the white background. but the bag will be white..

freefallu wrote in post #2215014
Well if i look at the background it seems like ambient to me. Beyond the cut and paste being clean in terms of edge , i was concerned that they would not look like they were in the scene at all. This makes me thing a higher temp flat light with maybe a snoot taking up the faces slightly. Id also planned a snoot on the bag to highlight it ( and was thinking a brown block behind the bag here to help them cut it out properly ? They will have dark clothes which lends to the white background. but the bag will be white..

I think I read that the client will do the blending of images. However, I would suggest that you be sure to talk to them about the appearance of the lighting directions, highlights, etc., as related to their overall plans.

Hi, I got it in the end in two 10 minute sessions of 40 shots each. They took care of clothing and creative director of pose. Looking at this on my screen ( with my attempt to cut them out which is very crude ) the white in her blouse seems a touch blown to me . I will keep looking through them in detail now. The creative director looked at them on a portable and said " were paying for this " and come to our office tommorrow to meet the rest of the team. Apparantley they are looking for a photag

So now i have got paid , which was very nice indeed and I have more in the pipeline

*** I have removed the picture as it may be bad form for me to publish it. It probably makes no " odds " but just in case.