Photoshoots for noobs

This past week, I had the pleasure of spending a few hours photographing my good friend Brittany Collins (fiancée of Anthony Hook, the lucky stiff). Partly a chance for her to get a few decent photos taken, partly for me to put a new camera through its paces, we headed out to Superior's Wisconsin Point.

I generally stick to environmental photography, and thus I'd never really done a formal photoshoot. I hastily scratched out a list of shots I wanted to get and the locations to get them in, but with no real experience in directing live subjects, I wasn't completely sure what to expect. Or what to do, really.

Things I learned, as an amateur:

• Keep it loose. Formality is boring. Natural movement and posturing is everything, so give your subject enough room to be comfortable within the bounds of your direction.

• Tell me a story. The best candid portraits happen when the subject is completely ignoring you, and has their mind on something totally different. (Surprise.) The most effective method I found for this was to have Brittany tell me a story, something notable from last week, or even a scene from The Office. Or several scenes from The Office.

• Let me tell you a story. You've just ducked around the corner, and you're hiding from someone - try to see if you're being followed, without being seen. Alternatively, you're a professional model who takes herself far too seriously.

• Plan for colors. We nailed this one, actually. Bring changes of clothing with a range of colors and patterns, bearing in mind the general location you'll be shooting in. I say "general", because it's important to --

• Explore. The only place I had planned for was one stretch of beach. And the lighthouse. And we didn't even do the lighthouse.

• Use the environment. People don't go out by old barns and pose next to classic cars of their own impetus. Someone might be expected play in the sand on the beach, though.

• Shoot in RAW. Do it. Even if Lightroom doesn't yet have native support for your camera's implementation. >_>

The full photoset is here, on Flickr, and is roughly 2/3 complete. Turns out, I spend a lot of time in post.