Man - all you do is push a button!

I had a friend once tell me - "Man, thats a cool photo, but all you did was push a button.  The camera made the picture!"  So here is a little bit of my internal dialogue that occurs before I "push the button" and let the camera do all the work...


I'm always talking with the client, making them feel comfortable and confident with the image creation process.  Everyone is beautiful, and it is my job to portray that - and lots of this has to do with self-confidence.

At the same time I am having a massive internal dialogue to keep the shoot moving...

First off I'm thinking about where I am, and how I can compose something that is going to be great.  Then I think about the light - because this will determine where I place a subject.  Often the client will get excited and make a suggestion, or have a desire to have a photo taken in the spot that has the worst light possible, or lots of clutter in the frame, or is generally the last idea I would have entertained - I used to try and steer them clear of that type of thing, but now I just roll with it, and in my mind I think "challenge accepted".

Back to what I'm thinking about....   I start to look at images in my mind's eye - following light and shadows, imagining my subject in the frame, and how the light will shape the scene as a whole.

Next I think about the depth of field I want, which will help with lens choice.  After selecting the lens, then I roll with composition - framing out how it will look.  Then I pull the subject into the frame and steam out the technical parts - shutter speed, ISO, f/stop, flash placement, flash power, flash modifiers (soft boxes, snoots, gels, gobos), and grip (how will the gear be secured safely).

Once all that is set, I start thinking about what to say to the subject in terms of direction, creating a pose, and keeping them confident (if necessary).  By this point I've probably talked with the client enough that he/she is comfortable with me, which is going to help with the expressions and emotions we are going to add to the photo shoot.  I'll think about what directions I can give to let a scene occur naturally - like - "hug each other, then walk to that tree and back while bantering around with each other a bit"...   Now I've given them tasks to act out, but its the type of thing they do naturally.



While posing and clicking the shutter, I am constantly thinking about the technical parts of the image creation, and also thinking about how the images are going to look in post processing.  I am also thinking about what the client wants to do with the images - the products they will be displayed on, the places in their home that things will be displayed.

For instance - if they have told me that a big picture will be going into their living room, and light floods in from the left side of the wall where a piece will be hung, I am going to compose the image to match the theme of that room, and also mimic the natural light.  I will put the light source to the left so when the finished image is on the wall it flows with their room, and looks like the natural light from the room is lighting the people in the image.

I think about all those things while I'm having a casual conversation with the client and getting them prepared to have their image created.  Then I "push the button"...