Professional Photographer Archives - Page 5 of 7

E-commerce Photographer Miami | How to Produce a Professional Photo shoot, aka “What the heck do I do now?”

by Kristin Stickels | Jan 27, 2015 | Advice, Planning a Photoshoot

Everyone has to start somewhere. Chances are good that if you are reading this blog, you are wondering what the heck do I need to do to produce a photo shoot? It’s OK! No one will tell! In fact you can message me with any questions you might have. My goal is to help my clients or anyone who finds themselves needing to produce a photo shoot. Ready? Here goes!
When planning a shoot, there are a multitude of things to consider in order to make your shoot successful. As the saying goes, “The devil is in the details.” Here are ways to plan out those details to make for a successful shoot. While this is a list of important items to keep in mind, the descriptions are purposely broad with some specific examples given; your distinct needs for your shoot will require you to refine, add and/or subtract items as necessary.

Some of the very first things to take into account are your budget, due dates, the shot list, and usage. Identify the budget for the shoot, and determine how rigid it is. This will help shape the decisions you make regarding the entire production. How much flexibility do you have if unexpected costs come up? Due dates are crucial to keep in mind. When are the images needed? Understanding your time frame will allow you to work backwards in creating a schedule. A shot list is also imperative. Brainstorm what photos you will need. Does your product need to be shot on-model and/or still life? Do you need various angles of each item? How many total images do you need of your product(s)? And don’t forget to keep in mind the usage. How will your photos be used? For advertising? Internally? On the web?

The next thing to plan is the art direction. This is something that can be done in-house or outsourced, but is a significant aspect of your production. Art direction involves sourcing inspiration for your photos (I suggest collecting visual examples for this), making sure the photos line up with your company’s image, and ensuring that the photos convey the mood and environment that you want your product(s) to have. And, of course, this all dictates the type of photographer that you will use. You wouldn’t choose a nature photographer for an action shot of a model, for example. Which leads us to the casting…

Your next step involves casting and determining the details of the actual shoot. Your casting may include hiring models, stylists, hairstylists, makeup artists, and, of course, the photographer (to name a few). You may also need to hire a professional retoucher for post-production. Some photographers can do their own retouching, but it is important to determine whether they can do it well. You then need to ascertain whether you will be using a studio or a location for the shoot. If you plan to shoot on location, you will need to obtain permits or permission to use the site, and you should have a back-up plan in case of weather issues. You also need to consider your set. What inanimate objects will you need to complete the shot? What wardrobe or accessories might you need for the models? Is a manicure necessary due to close-up shots of a model’s hands?

Within the location details (whether on location or in studio) it is essential to plan food and beverages for everyone at the shoot and possibly transportation to and from the site. You may even need to provide lodging for the clients, models and/or the crew, depending on the location.

Image selection is an important part of the process. This can occur either on set or after the shoot. If the photographer shoots tethered to a computer, you can see the images immediately as they are shot. This gives you the opportunity to select your images while on set, and it also allows you to confirm that you have everything you need before the shoot is done.

After the shoot has taken place, there is still work to be done. The post-production work includes file management (naming, re-sizing, and delivering the images as digital files), as well as any retouching that may be required. When budgeting for your shoot, it is important to determine whether these costs are built into the photographer’s fee or will be charged additionally.

After taking all of this into account, the big question is can this all fit into your budget? If the answer is no, it is time to re-evaluate some aspects of your plan. Can you get a higher budget? Can you be more specific in your usage? Can you reduce your shot list? What can be done in-house?

And lastly, don’t forget about payment. When are people expecting to be paid? How long will it take your company to pay?

So, here is a quick checklist to help you plan your shoot:

budget
due dates
shot list
usage
art direction
casting
shoot details
location details
image selection
post-production work
payment

Just remember, this is a list of important items to keep in mind, but the descriptions are broad. You will need to tweak the list depending on your own needs for your shoot.

Here is a handy flowchart for your reference:

E-Commerce Photographer South Florida | Website Product Photographer

by Kristin Stickels | Dec 10, 2014 | e-commerce photographer, Ecommerce Photographer, Product

Last week, the on-model images that I shot for Cosabella’s Fall 2014 debuted on their website. This shoot is a great example of the synthesis of product photography in still life e-commerce and on-model photos. In this photo you can see both types of images.

Pajamas are certainly not easy to shoot due to their “comfortable” nature. There is a lot of material to work with and the structure is often boxy, which doesn’t give much shape to the garment. Here you can see the difference between the still life photos of the pajamas and the on-model shots. The still life images show the important details of the garment and the on-model shots convey a lifestyle image to the consumer.

In addition, two of my still life shots were used in email blasts. For these particular still life images, you can see how there had to be some foresight as to the placement of graphic design or text which might be inserted into the frame, so I purposely left space in the photo to allow for this.

As you can see, by elevating the photography for your website, you’ve elevated your brand.

E-Commerce Photographer South Florida | Photography Studio South Florida

by Kristin Stickels | Nov 24, 2014 | e-commerce photographer, Ecommerce Photographer, Product

Last week I moved into a fabulous new studio space. Although my old studio is extremely functional, I was quickly outgrowing it and was quite happy to find this new, larger space. It is an industrial-style studio in Fort Lauderdale’s Art District so the neighborhood is fun and funky and the space has a “New York” feel to it.

Our first shoot took place last Saturday and was quite successful. In fact, all the little details of the studio space helped contribute to the shoot. From the rustic wood tables to the vintage 1913 letterpress to the old fashioned tools decorating the place, all the charm of the studio ended up being perfect as additional features we used in the shoot.

The client was Crown & Buckle, a watch band manufacturer with products made from gorgeous leather and nylon. We had an ambitious list with 35 shots on it which included on-model shots as well as still-life photos. Our mission was to shoot their online marketing imagery that would be used as intro shots, banner shots, e-commerce shots and product shots, as well as for social media and email blasts, so we had a variety of tasks for the day.

The studio has an east-facing glass door that brings in the most spectacular golden morning light. We took advantage of the light as much as possible, shooting the watch bands on the letterpress and the conference table, which were near the east wall. We also did some of the on-model shots there as well.

The owners of the company had brought quite a few props for us to use for the shoot. Old-style American flags, Christmas lights, their tools, a papier maché mounted deer head, a mounted deer head made of cardboard, scraps of leather, and they even had snippets of evergreen trees Fed Exed down from Wisconsin (because we don’t really have pine trees in South Florida). One of the best lines of the day came from Taffney as she opened the Fed Ex package and got a whiff of the contents. “It’s like Christmas in a box!” she exclaimed.

Motto is the branding agency based in South Carolina that had recommended me to the client. While they were not physically present at the shoot, we were able to send them batches of photos from the shoot for their instant feedback. The studio also had two flat screen televisions with Apple TV, so I was able to immediately show the client the shots I took on my camera from my computer.

All in all it was a great day at the new studio and we loved getting to know the people at Crown & Buckle and Motto.

For the moment, I am testing out the new studio space for a month to see if it is going to fit my needs, but so far so good. I will be sharing the space with The Guild 5 Forty Five members Gary James, photographer, and Kim Grijalva, creative director.

Miami Advertising Photographer | Kate Benson Photography | Hiring a professional photographer in miami

by kate benson | Jun 17, 2013 | Advice, Miami Professional Pho...

Production. Pre-production, the production of the day of shooting, and post production. Yes, it is all a production. In the city of Miami, there are many aspiring photographers. Also, there is a trend within Miami to always say “I can do it, no problem”! Whether it is a home repair or a major ad campaign, Miami is a tricky city to hire someone in. Maybe I’m thinking of this today because of all the work done on my house last week, and all the things that weren’t done right and now require more time and work to fix. But in the city of Miami, you’ll rarely here anyone say “I don’t know how to do that”. And it’s part of the charm of the city! People truly WANT to be able to do it all. They want you to relax and not stress while they help you get done what you need done. But in a city, when everyone says they can do it, how do you find out who really can? At least in photography the devil is in the details. Which brings us back to (you guessed it), production. It’s what you can’t wake up and know how to do. You can be a very talented photographer, but if you can’t organize a shoot your not going to go very far. Granted, there are clients who know all about production. Clients who either have in house production staff to do this work or already know who they will outsource it to. Because when they say seconds of shooting takes hours of planning, it’s not a lie.

That said, reasons my clients love working with me is that I am always able and happy to help with production. I don’t expect my clients to all know how a photo shoot comes together, that would be unreasonable! So part of my job is to see what they want and need for images and then make sure on the day we shoot we have everything we could possibly need to get those images into my camera.

A good case study of this was a client of mine who had about two weeks to replace their existing ad campaign. This client was spending serious money on advertising and to learn that in 2 weeks they would no long have the license to any images was a huge blow. They needed Billboards, online ads, magazine ads, website images, a complete brand makeover, and it had to be done in about two weeks start to finish. And this is where they started to see why working with someone who knew the industry already was better than taking someone’s word for it that they “can do it, no problem”! Because there are always problems. A professional photographer knows how to roll through those problems and quickly find solutions to keep you on deadline. But if a photographer doesn’t know production, doesn’t have relationships already with a team of people, the client suffers. We would cast models only to learn they booked a ticket home (this was towards the end of the Miami modeling season) and were no longer available that day, we had stylists pulling clothes that weren’t what we wanted, we needed equipment flown in from out of state, just to name a few things. But because I have 7 years of this business under my belt we were able to watch closely as the days leading up to the shoot unfolded and catch each issue early on to fix it.

But production is more than fixing problems, it’s anticipating needs. I can see the creative direction from the examples and mood boards sent and know what we need to do this job well. In the above case study, I encouraged hiring 3 models instead of 2 (the client knew he wanted 2 particular models, the 3rd was a blond that I suspected would fit another need they hadn’t identified yet). The 3rd model ended up being the favorite and the one who was on the Billboards. We needed 5 shots with different outfits total, but the client ended up choosing 7 and licensing extras and because we shot over 10 looks they were able to get more to work with. The retouching happened as soon as the client made the selections and they were able to switch out their Billboards and run their new adds seamlessly. It’s a beautiful thing when fast, well shot, creative work happens. But if I hadn’t been who I am, if I was still green, any single small issue we hit could have derailed the shoot. It’s about knowing more than your clients do about the shoot. If you ever find yourself working for a client who knows more than you about what your doing there, look out. Odds are they don’t know that you aren’t more experienced and that truth always surfaces.

But being a photographer isn’t about putting your client down either. Please, don’t misunderstand me! It’s about anticipating the clients needs before they realize they have them. It’s in the details. And that is why a handy man with a camera isn’t the best choice for photos that are important. Because in this business, going back the next week to fix a mistake is easily thousands and thousands of dollars. I wouldn’t want to be on the other side here in Miami, it’s hard enough to find someone to repair your sink because of the false confidences. A sink, which is just a few bucks compared to a photo shoot. And when it comes to photography, more and more people are picking up cameras and trying to strike it rich, like some misguided gold rush, promising that they can take a great picture and pull off a monumental shoot with no work/worries/involvement fromt he client. I’d say that is the first red flag, if they don’t know what questions to ask and just tell you they can do the shoot. That’s when it is time to re-evaluate who your hiring. And then, well, call me 😉

Miami Product Photographer | Kate Benson Photography | Riide/inc Miami shoot

by kate benson | Jun 13, 2013 | cars, Product

Two weekends ago I was contacted by my friend who is starting a vintage car/motorcycle restoration company called Riide/inc. He had two vehicles that he needed shot on that weekend as one of the two (the Nissan 280ZX) had already sold and was going to the client Sunday afternoon. We played with different ideas but knew we wanted a location shoot; so we broke out Google Earth and started browsing for the right location (truthfully, we then gave up on Google Earth and I called my friend who works for the Florida Trail Association and he told me where the spot was with everything we wanted). This weekend we’ll be shooting more for Riide/inc as they already have a great inventory of vehicles, but here are a few of my favorite shots from the first round.