I decided to start a photography business at the beginning of the year, and today Jan 25th, I was shooting with my very first clients. I had gotten the gig off of Thumbtack using some headshots I had taken of a friend. I had never actually taken studio headshots, so this was exciting and also a bit terrifying. I knew I just had to do a good job to impress the clients and boost my self-esteem.
George, my client, wanted to take professional and family portraits to use for his business website. What was more interesting about this family shoot was that their dog was a part of it. Did I mention I’m a bit scared of dogs? The irony, right? But I had to be brave and I excepted the job.
The day of the shoot came, and it went pretty well. Their dog was a husky and I actually love huskies so that was a relief. Here’s a summary of what I think I did well and what I could do better on:
What I did well:
I was relaxed. Even though I had never held a studio session, I made sure the clients did not feel unsure. I stayed as calm as I could be. At first, I could feel myself shaking, but I eventually got the hang of it and started enjoying myself
I made the clients feel comfortable. When I started learning about photography, I watched a lot of videos that talked about the importance of keeping your clients comfortable. The more relaxed they were, the more natural the pictures came out and the more shots I was able to capture. I conversed with George and his wife, Lucy throughout the shoot and got to know them better. This also made me feel more comfortable.
What I could do better:
I could have taken more pictures in portrait mode. All the pictures I took were in landscape mode even the headshots. Of course, this is a rookie mistake I made, probably because I was nervous and focused on pleasing the clients – and not necessarily thinking about my camera setting
I could have used the principles I learnt on outdoor portraits. Before the shoot, I had gone through videos that talked about the best ways to handle various outdoor lighting situations. Even though I remembered most of these principles, I did not put them into practice as well as I should have and it shows in some of the pictures.
Overall, at the end of the day, I was able to produce Images the clients absolutely loved. I still have work to do to improve on the quality of images I take, but I believe this was a great start to a new endeavor.
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