office shots

where do you plan to shoot inside or outside?
im guessing inside.

av3nger-- my comments are not meant to discourage you. I wish you the best--the difference between a professional and anyone else is that as a professional you can guarantee the results of your work. No matter what the situation as a professional you can predict the outcome of the shots.
In your situation my advice would be to practice on something less "important" --- we get to be professionals because we practice--- I did work for people that my work was not critical and no one counted on my work. As my work improved and I became more consistent with the results I could work for more "high profile" type customers--- boss, or paying customers etc. I am always trying improve what I do. But I do not experiment with paying customers--- I practice when my shots really only matter to me.
I wish you the best---

Wow. I would tend to agree that you don't need to be doing this. It's obvious from your posts that you don't really know what you're doing, however, I have no clue what the "pros" in Russia are like and feel sure the culture is different from here in the States.

However, if you are going ahead anyway, my advice would be to do a few "practice" shoots after work with a coworker, or at home with the wife/girlfriend, etc. Make sure that you DO have a clue when the day comes to actually shoot it! Good luck!

Thenicky wrote in post #5731407
where do you plan to shoot inside or outside?
im guessing inside.

inside

stathunter wrote in post #5731409
av3nger-- my comments are not meant to discourage you. I wish you the best--the difference between a professional and anyone else is that as a professional you can guarantee the results of your work. No matter what the situation as a professional you can predict the outcome of the shots.
In your situation my advice would be to practice on something less "important" --- we get to be professionals because we practice--- I did work for people that my work was not critical and no one counted on my work. As my work improved and I became more consistent with the results I could work for more "high profile" type customers--- boss, or paying customers etc. I am always trying improve what I do. But I do not experiment with paying customers--- I practice when my shots really only matter to me.
I wish you the best---

thanks.
my "customers" life doesn't depend on me. it's just easier for them. they have a person who can shoot, they have an office.... what else is there to do - just spare 30 minutes of their time and that's it. if the shots are horrible, they just have to hire a pro. they don't want that. because i said earlier, the last pro charged a loooot of money and did his job poorly. so they don't loose anything. it's kind of hard to explain really... i don't want to judge my bosses and so on. but let's put it this way. i can't refuse this "job". i have to do it. it's just the way it is. i really don't want to discuss the topic of work relationship here. you won't understand how work is organized in some companies in Russia. it's really not like in US.

I agree with stathunter.

collierportraits wrote in post #5731443
Wow. I would tend to agree that you don't need to be doing this. It's obvious from your posts that you don't really know what you're doing, however, I have no clue what the "pros" in Russia are like and feel sure the culture is different from here in the States.

However, if you are going ahead anyway, my advice would be to do a few "practice" shoots after work with a coworker, or at home with the wife/girlfriend, etc. Make sure that you DO have a clue when the day comes to actually shoot it! Good luck!

yes, i don't know what i'm doing. my portfolio of "head shots" is close to... 0.
please read my post above. i explained a lot there.

and about the pros. there are pros here. no doubt about that. but also there are a lot of amature photographers that say thay are pros, charge like pros, have gear like pros, have a team of stylist and so on... but they're NOT pros. i think it's like this not only in Russia. i'd love to discuss this topic somewhere in this forum. but not in this thread.

Hi,

With digital cameras now, lighting can be much more basic and less expensive than in the past. You can even put together a kit from a hardware store, pretty easily.

You could also shoot by available light. To get some ideas how to do so, look for any and all books or articles you can get that are written by Monte Zucker. He specialized in available light portraiture, mostly on location and often with "found backdrops". Monte wrote heaps of articles for Shutterbug magazine over the years. He passed away last year, I believe, but has left quite a legacy of teaching.

I don't know anything about how copyright law applies in Russia. But here in the US, I'd want a written agreement that insures my ownership of the photos doesn't pass to my employer, either because I'm on their staff or under some sort of "work for hire" agreement. Not that you have big potential to sell the images elsewhere. More that you might have some residual sales to the company in the future, if they are happy with your work.

You also need to look into model releases, pricing and image licensing there. Here in the US there would usually be a fee to do the shoot, then a payment for licensing the images to them for limited usage, possibly a print fee if those are required, or a fee for a CD of the final, edited and retouched images in digital form. If they wanted some exclusivity, longer term or any highly controlling interest in the images, they'd have to pay a higher price for it.

It could be a very interesting job. I hope you have fun at it.

In my opinion. I would be careful of doing this because it is your boss you're dealing with. Especially if it's a corporate environment, and you're not necessarily middle management. But if you're throwing caution to the wind; which is fine. Please let them know upfront exactly where you are with your skills. That way if its not that great; no problem. If they turn out great, then all the better. Just be straight up with them and you'll be fine. Buy a reflector if you can't afford a flash right now, take pictures with rooms with lots of natural light. Use your reflector for fill, and you can pull if off. Just remember most great corporate environmental shots, really work in a board room. Have projectors going with the company logo and make sure to highlight one person or moment, and nothing else. It's cool to have people look like they are working and look up and smile. Take your time and have fun. If you're doing portraits, use the environment again, just think of it as a muslin or something, and make sure it's very one dimensional (that's the background). Or use the product as the environment. (ie.. surrounded by candy, have them with a suit and chef's hat with shelves of bread around.. have fun and give them a head band and tennis racket if it's sports clubs or something) Find the coolest spot in your office to take pictures too. Something different with some flare. Use color and shape to help you add some "flare" to your pictures. Sure the everyday shots are good to start, but don't be afraid to take a few pictures getting out of the box. If you're serious about photography, these are the shots that are going to get you noticed and have people calling you.

Have fun!! You "can" do it. Just be upfront and have fun.

Please have a working understanding of light

How about telling them you need the money up front so you can go buy a flash? I can't imagine doing an indoor shot of employees without flash. Not even when I had the 50 1.2!

Av3nger-

Its important to take advantage of learning opportunities, but lacking the right equipment and skills is a bad start for a paying job. It also seems that the concequences of a serious problem on this project would be far worse at a place you work for other purposes. After several of my own failures, I have a simple philosphy-I do not accept paying gigs where I cannot already show solid results. I will experiment on my own time, but not for a paying client.

I hope at least that you will find a way to get alot of practice with other people before this job starts. You could also consult with another pro photographer on techniques and equipment. Another alternative is to help your company find a pro based on your advice that can do a better job and has the right equipment.

A 430flash is a good general investment that could help on this project if you know how to use it, even if you are using primarily natural light.

Good Luck-
Scott

Mum2J&M wrote in post #5731647
How about telling them you need the money up front so you can go buy a flash? I can't imagine doing an indoor shot of employees without flash. Not even when I had the 50 1.2!

Why not, you can take advantage of Natural light..... Its really not that hard. I used to shoot indoor with my 50 1.4 with NO problems. Just have to adjust white balance.

Kenski wrote in post #5731983
Why not, you can take advantage of Natural light..... Its really not that hard. I used to shoot indoor with my 50 1.4 with NO problems. Just have to adjust white balance.

Or shoot RAW and adjust afterwards.

Shallow depth of field and noise issues. I believe having more sufficient lighting would be a huge benefit in that situation.

Mum2J&M wrote in post #5732169
Shallow depth of field and noise issues. I believe having more sufficient lighting would be a huge benefit in that situation.

I guess it is all depends.
If the sun is out even small windows can be quite effective at giving you the f8+ ap @ a decent ISO (OP has a 40D which can do quite well in the higher ISO range).

I suppose. I guess it depends what kind of shots you are going for though.