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Biggest lessons learned?
This is my first time posting on here and I saw a few "never say this to a photographer/model" and saw people saying they were guilty of it so it made me wonder what lessons people have learned the hard way. Jan 09 13 01:14 pm Link I just learned a lesson lately when doing the "Ice Princess" shoot (my current avatar). I learned that you should have the model put on her panty hose before you have the nail technician attach the super long nails. Jan 09 13 01:23 pm Link Blue Ash Film Group wrote:
Jan 09 13 02:30 pm Link Don't agree to shoot with someone who doesn't seem at all enthusiastic about the project/shoot. Jan 09 13 02:32 pm Link - Keep them away from bright lights. - Never give them food after midnight. - Never get water on them. Oh, wait.. I think I'm confused..  Jan 09 13 02:39 pm Link If you've just bought your first DSLR, learn how to set the shutter speed *before* your first shoot. Be sure to take as many cables as PocketWizards for your strobes. A PW without a cable is useless. If you go to a wedding as an assistant to keep the photographer supplied with film holders and flashbulbs, be prepared to shoot the wedding - just in case the photographer trips, falls and breaks his arm on his way down the aisle. (It happened when I was 14.) Don't wear your best suit on a newspaper assignment to shoot a kids' fishing derby. If you do, don't try to squeeze through a barbed wire fence. If someone tries to grab you from behind during a riot at a high school football game, spin around and hit him with everything you've got - just in case. (I was 15 or 16. The cop I knocked down apologized after he saw my credentials.) If you're at a news conference with the Undersecretary of the Treasury, ask him if he was the mastermind of the Watergate break-in - even if everyone else is asking when LA is going to get its mass transit funding. Just ask, okay? (Woodward and Bernstein named Egil Krough as the one who coordinated the operation about two weeks later.) If a cop sticks his hand in front of your lens while the goal posts are being torn down after Oklahoma defeats Texas at the Cotton Bowl, shoot the cop - even if all you can see is his hat badge and badge number between his fingers - *before* he starts to rough you up. I recommend a 28mm lens. (The photo made dozens of front pages around the country. The Dallas police chief apologized to the managing editor - but not to me.) If you're present during the arrest of bank robbery suspects and a cop gets shot, get out of the car and start shooting - even if the sergeant in charge has told you to stay in your car. (The sergeant was leaning with his back against my car door and talking over his shoulder to me when he was hit in the stomach by a stray bullet as two cops wrestled the gun from the suspect. Actually at the moment he was hit, he was repeatedly shouting "Somebody cuff him!" as one suspect's girlfriend was handing him an S&W .38 Special through the suspect's car window. I scooted over and got out on the passenger side.) Jan 09 13 02:54 pm Link Camerosity wrote: Wow. Your life is too exciting for me. Jan 09 13 03:01 pm Link My worst mistake was not checking the quality setting on my camera. Ended up with scrapping a full day worth of shooting because the quality was set on a resolution of 640 x 480. It still hurts man......... still hurts. Jan 09 13 03:21 pm Link If you think you're forgetting something, you probably are. If you charge your battery before a shoot, it's best to put it back in the camera. The strength of a gust of wind is always inversely proportional to the stability of your light stand. If, when viewing your portfolio, a potential client asks, "Can you make me look that good?" what they might be telling you is that they don't like looking at pictures of themselves. EV-er. When someone asks you if you're a god, you say "Yes!" Jan 09 13 04:10 pm Link Unless you have confirmed a date with who you are working with it is not always definite on here. I have spend money on wardrobe only not to hear from them again, especially at the time when I could of used the money on something else. Thankfully, I have been able to make up those shoots with others or sell the items on EBAY. Accept rejection as it is part of the game, per say. Don't take it so personal. Jan 09 13 09:46 pm Link rejection/criticism is a hard one for me but I'm slowly learning to separate myself from it. My portfolio review in art school was pretty tough to take (luckily I passed) lol. These are all great to read by the way  Jan 09 13 10:25 pm Link Using one light setup the whole shoot, and realizing later the nose shadow made it pretty much unusable. Jan 10 13 12:00 am Link If a Secret Service agent accidentally walks behind you and you find yourself right next to the vice president, be VERY docile as you're being whisked away. Explain the mix-up in a whisper, and the agent will look very stern and say, "It's OK, this is for show." If somebody's shooting (bullets) keep you head down. If somebody's threatening to hit you during a demonstration, grab your Nikon by the 300mm lens and offer to find out which is harder, the demonstrator's head or the camera. Works every time. If you're shooting two hot girls in the heat ... be prepared with cold water in case the one from Hawaii was dehydrated 'cause she didn't appreciate mainland heat. That's true especially out in the countryside. If you're shooting nudes in nature in the desert, realize those cacti just might be more dangerous to you than to the model, and don't back into anything you're not willing to extract piece by piece from your butt. Jan 10 13 12:18 am Link The client is always right Be on time (or early) Jan 10 13 12:19 am Link Always have TSA hand check your luggage.... Check twice, shoot once ! Jan 10 13 12:37 am Link Follow your gut, especially when it comes to shoots. If something feels off, walk away. Only had to do this twice in two years of almost constant shooting, but I'm still glad I did. Jan 10 13 02:00 am Link Ken Marcus Studios wrote: Bullshit! Jan 10 13 04:53 am Link Camerosity wrote: Anything I was going to add now seems rather... redundant. Jan 10 13 05:01 am Link The lesson I learned was to TRUST people, and believe that the vast majority of people are good and safe (unless there's a pretty obvious reason to convince you otherwise). Don't trust what you see on TV, as a depiction of the larger population and what constitutes actual *risk*. Yes, I am being 100% serious. Traveling and shooting - sleeping in the homes of strangers, having people pick me up at airports, people I'd only really ever spoken to online -- I met the most awesome people ever. Jan 10 13 08:22 am Link Keep your backup drive in your suitcase: NOT your shoulder bag / computer case. While on a train between Amsterdam city and Schipol Airport I once had the hard learned experienced of trick thieves stealing my shoulder bag, with laptop AND backup drive ( - and camera and lenses ... ), so keep your drives in separate pieces of luggage ! Jan 10 13 08:39 am Link StefaniG wrote: Why do you assume that "lessons people have learned the hard way" are the "Biggest lessons learned"? Jan 10 13 08:49 am Link You don't have to accept every booking, nor do you have to shoot every day. It is not a crime to take a day off to rest/recover once and again. Jan 10 13 11:47 am Link Always carry at least one extra battery. Always carry at least one extra card (or 8 rolls of film). Never allow anyone not involved on the set. Jan 10 13 03:26 pm Link don't tug on Superman's cape don't spit into the wind don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger don't mess around with Grimms oh, and don't pee uphill Jan 10 13 03:30 pm Link It takes the same amount of prep. for a, No Call No Show, shoot as it does for a shoot that goes as scheduled. Jan 10 13 03:36 pm Link DougBPhoto wrote: /thread Jan 10 13 03:45 pm Link Trust your gut. Jan 10 13 05:37 pm Link Isis22 wrote: I don't trust my gut.... Jan 10 13 05:41 pm Link Forgot to put the SD card in my camera before leaving. Brilliant. Jan 10 13 06:13 pm Link DougBPhoto wrote: I endorse the above message. Jan 10 13 06:14 pm Link you have to be careful with sexy banter, even if the model is a willing participant or initiates it. but sometimes you don't know where the line is until you cross it and get your nose smacked with a newspaper. just how it goes. Jan 10 13 06:19 pm Link one of my wedding nightmares. i've taken to putting spare 16GB CF cards in each bag. worst-case i can just shoot jpeg if have only one. but i always power up each camera before putting them in the car to make sure they have charged battery and card. Jackson frontier photos wrote: Jan 10 13 06:21 pm Link cropping photographer's photos to put up as my facebook profile pic is a no-no. one photographer contacted me after i did it and asked me about it and i felt horrible. oops! i'm glad i learned early. Jan 10 13 06:55 pm Link charge the battery and never forget the spare..... that rule should be tattooed on my forehead by now Jan 10 13 07:01 pm Link Get the date written on the calendar NOW, not later. Check the calendar on a regular basis When driving, "better safe than sorry", when making art it's the other way around When a person shows you who they Really are, believe them and don't expect them to be someone else Jan 10 13 08:41 pm Link If you're driving somewhere that you've never been before, even if its in the same city, leave the house 2 hours early. This I actually learned from a friend. Invest in a good GPS, and just in case also print out Google Maps AND Mapquest directions, and maybe even get GPS on your phone too. No lie I've had to use all four before. My GPS got confused and took me to a Taco Bell. In the wrong city. I got back on track with the GPS on my phone, but then I went into an area where my phone had no service. I had GM directions but there was construction which held up traffic, and Mapquest had the alternate route. I was there on time. Bring extra pantyhose and eyelashes. Always remember to bring food and water in case you feel faint. Don't ever forget baby wipes and Purell. I recently shot in an abandoned parking garage where some homeless people live and there was poo all over the walls and floors and stuff like that. Rubbers and moldy food lying around... I had some dried out wet wipes in my dashboard and I had to use my bottle of water to refresh them so I could clean up afterward! Jan 10 13 09:05 pm Link Jordan L Duncan wrote: If I may touch on this... Jan 10 13 09:17 pm Link For a photographer, learn how to do makeup. Reasons why: 1. Better communicate your needs to MUA. 2. MUA doesn't show, it's not a complete loss. 3. Its a great way to break the ice and build trust with a new model! Because if they let me put a pencil with a sharp point extremely close to their eyeball, then you won't have any trouble with those oddball requests that make no sense. Jan 10 13 09:30 pm Link 1. Always advance the film after pressing the shutter release on a Brownie Hawkeye. 2. Slide film is very unforgiving. 3. Have a back-up camera, flash, batteries, cards, film. 4. While out and about and an attractive woman comes up to you and comments on how "large and in-charge" your camera is, you might not want to dismiss it as idle chit chat. 5. If you set up a TF session with a new comer (with only cell pics) to MM and after she asks you to friend her on FB you see she has over 5,000 friends/followers, dont be shocked when she is an unannounced no-show. 6. You have to be able to laugh about yourself and imperfections. 8. Learn to count. Jan 10 13 10:09 pm Link Lessons I learned when I was a confused, I started off on craigslist, no idea wtf I'm doing not even able to call herself a model newb: Dont wait til the morning of the shoot to pick outfits. Dont spray tan the day of a shoot. Whatever amount of time you think you need to get ready before going to the shoot, double it. Whatever amount of time you think you need to drive to a shoot, double it. Don't flake. Jan 11 13 12:00 am Link |
