the Next Level photo the Next Level photo: Valentines shoot

Monday, February 4, 2008

Valentines shoot

I did the photo shoot yesterday. It was something like a "special photo for your special someone". At least that was what the advertisement wording. Unfortunately we didn't get a single phone call from that ad. If I base any other advertisements from that one, I won't ever place another one in the newspaper. The cost is too high and the return is too little. Word of mouth is a much better ROI.

Anyway, back to the shoot.

It was a tough one. The person didn't really know what she wanted. She did have a few clothes that she wanted to get pictures in. So that helped. Normally, I meet with someone for an hour or two and we talk and share things. This is the ice breaker that allows us to just shoot when it's time to shoot. Well, this time, I didn't get to do the pre-shoot interview so to speak. So we did talk for about 20 minutes. It didn't help much.

In the past few photo sessions, it takes about 20-40 minutes for someone to warm up to me and the camera. It took her almost an hour and a half.

The session was actually only supposed to be ONE HOUR. I figured that since there wasn't anyone else, we could extend it a little bit. I didn't expect to triple it.

I definitely need to learn to SHUT UP AND SHOOT. I do talk a lot and while that might help a little. I have no coherent flow of words, it becomes painfully clear that when I talk too much, eyes roll. Sometimes it helps the model. Sometimes it doesn't.

After it was all said and done. She said she was happy with the session. I believe she was happy with some of the results. So that means a happy customer. Or so I hope.

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