Lessons

Lesson Info

Classroom Feedback and Questions

All right, so we were basically coming off of the shoots for everybody stepped up and did a great job and some people who were doing the shootings are lovely audience members and had questions so well, I think just you were starting out to saying something about speaking from the heart. Okay, um sorry thing right? What I was saying was that when I stepped up, I was definitely feeling very, very nervous just knowing that this is live and everyone's watching, but because of something you had said earlier in the day, I told her that I asked her how she was doing it if all this monitor it doesn't bother her, but I was like, well, bothered me everybody laughed, but what was good about it? What you had said was that I'm sharing what's really going on in here and she's gonna smell that fear anyway, some hands we'll just put it out there and then it kind of just evaporated. Yeah, yeah, I think there's a few things that more rapidly evaporate barriers and share vulnerabilities. You know, that's...

one of the kind of lets just own this or human beings and this is writing and did that that that's I mean, I think that's fantastic. Okay, you had a question? Yeah, um, like with a little white pepper thing they really seemed like uh like I think that maybe like why it was like done with the whole being photographed at this point he was like, you know, be on there a couple times and I just like I don't think I wasn't able to break through that like I was here what would you have done differently um to kind of combat that yeah, I think a couple things one first I think you did a great job and I love that final shot that you got in and I thought that was a fun um I would have um I recognize that I wasn't going to be able to win any argument with wyatt and pretty quickly just changed tacks there because, um he's very logical and he's gonna hear it you have to say and then you know he'll have his response or he'll ask you why on I was joking too craig that like I could see why putting some people like to completely change in their lives you like that is a good point I am going to move out, you know, like just that kind of kind of questioning and I don't know actually what strikes me is like anything that you say to him it's not like he's going to hear that and just accept it he's gonna want to know for himself that that's true or he's not gonna leave it's true and again, during a portrait session is not actually the time to try to, you know, kind of go back and forth, so and I don't think you were going back and forth so much as you were just trying to bring him out and trying different ways to do that. So what I would do is abandon that route all together and more make it about when I said step in and take control, I don't mean that, like, force him around and push him around. I mean, sometimes if you're here, aton, um and you're more asking him to share with you his knowledge versus, you know, getting him to accept your theories, he's going to be a little bit more like, all right, well, at least she's figured it out that I know what I'm doing, you know? And then the dialogue shifts in the feeling shifts, and as he's distracted by that you can mold them and shift him. And so I would have done that in terms of bringing about you. Tell me what to do while we get this going on, and pepper struck me as very ready to hug your brother, and I thought he was keith it's not like I'm just trying to figure out why he was pushing her away a little bit because hello which was eleven job that I love you you know, s o I felt like she was the easy one in that respect and the focus was gonna be with wyatt, right? Yeah. Um what about you? Any questions from your shoot so other than like what's a cannon you know, um I usually shoot with strobe, so I really liked that you didn't have to kind of really like those lights. So do you still do like dew still do studio lighting like how often do you do studio and how often do if outside yeah, I have if I have a still human which is usually not my children the subject's on like a bride, for instance or uh, anything like that, I will go ahead and pull out the strobes and I've got my pocket wizards and I'll set up a shot and I'll expose it well and shoot it um and feel comfortable with that. Um the like I said, I have two sets of letting my studio and I have two shooting spaces so I can kind of easily drive them around and do whatever I want I find the continuous light sources just easier and a lot of respects there a little bit less specific you know in terms of being able to set the exact shot I want but the catchall was fantastic in my experience and I and I think they're fantastic lights so if I want to switch over teo a strobe and kind of be a little bit more clear and set it up then I'll do that but probably honestly now eighty five percent of time I'm shooting with the continuous light sources so when you like do your consultation we'll probably talk about this later but do you say are you looking for studio? Are you looking for outdoors like, what are you thinking or do you make the choice in terms of setting locate like yeah, if you do studio light or if you do outdoor like do you decide or do you let them are the big thing with setting location? I don't consider it all lighting I'm considering mood and what the location will, how that will impact the interaction of having my child. So if I have a one year old who's a little slow moving and easily startled and this and that I'll say let's bring him into the studio let's bring him to the studio and do this here because I've got everything control the nice and easy and ready to go and then I'll just use whatever light source makes the most sense, which is usually continuous and if I have a say six, seven, eight and nine year old who are bouncing off the walls I am not going back to the studio because they will break it yeah, and I will take them out, let them run and play and expend some energy and, you know, kind of move that way. So yeah, that's using that? Yes question on that, like, I'm assuming that if you have, like, a the parents of a one year old and you think you find to do it in the studio, but they don't want a studio location, they'd rather do it on location. Do you have, like, an extra charge for going to location? Or is it just like a flat fee? Bassem wherever? Yeah, I used to have an additional fee for any location based shoots, the first of the studio shoot, and I started recognizing what that was doing was impacting my ability to get out more, and I want to get more. I think if I were looking at it just from a revenue perspective, um, and calculated the amount of time I spent on a location shoot versus in studio shoot it, it would make sense to charge more because I'm losing money because I'm spending more time with travel time, and I often spent a little bit more time when I'm on location versus in the studio, not always but often so if it's just a budgetary consideration I would keep more shoots in studio or charge more for on location but for me I want to be able to break it up and try new locations and check things out and also be ableto choose the optimal um location for the shoot based on the personality child so in that case that's why I want to say let's take money off the table and see what's best with sasha and jessica wade saw jessica she was like like going to tears I mean she was they were they were coming she was walking off the paper got her stay on you did a great job getting us but I mean I looked out and she but then we did look at you show to the back of the screen and you favor her treated you you distracted her for a second and you halted the tears yeah and she still was in that mood. But yet almost like almost ten minutes later fifteen minutes later when all the kids came back in these guys I mean she she was up and she was different different person um and I like to think that it was maybe it was time or experience or what? How can I get to that quicker? How can I get that that's sort of more, you know, relax child faster two things one I don't necessary now that you have to get that to the quicker you know? Yeah, if you're scheduling a significant about time for you shoots, you don't have to get to it sooner. I should you the image that I have, but the one who just needs to warm up the image that was used for this class course up until we switch to this one was the one who is very shy and nervous and just not sure and taking all in and me shooting from a distance. So a few things I do in that specific situation with the two little girls and sasha, I would determine whether or not it made sense to move in closer and reassure them a move back farther and give them space. That's the first thing I'm gonna dio if I find that where I'm sitting and I'm getting that behavior, I know it's going to be some sort of adjustment forward or backward number two is the, you know, the warming up period? I don't mind kind of sitting and hanging and waiting. That was a surreal situation. We've got a ton of cameras that tunnel lights, a ton of photographers, and we're plopping two little kids right in front of it all and saying, ok, not be natural. Yeah they're gonna be natural there's nothing natural about that so that you know you're combating a lot in that respect cousin you're just jumping up and going so that's not unusual at all that you're going to see that the big thing would have been tio I and again you have to gauge this but I think I personally in that exact situation would have moved in and tried to block the energy a little bit and get their attention more on me and take more of all this away and that and I would have done that physically with a lot of intense focus well that's when she calmed down when he got closer and because he had to get close to shore the image right right yeah, it was a combination of distraction and you know um and if but if you find if you find that for some reason you know you're a little scarier to them and you're getting that read I went back up and that was the reed I was getting I was sort of when I initially kind of moved and I felt like she was a little nervous right big guy and it's a lot going on I mean you photograph any child um you're gonna represent whether you're a man or woman on your physical body type and whatever else you're going to represent something to them that you know there's some sort of called the mary familiarity and if you remind her of her daddy and she loves her daddy to death, you haven't advantage just like that. If you remind her of her uncle and her uncle is scary and mean, you're at a disadvantage and that's not your fault. Um, it's, just something to be a little bit aware of the kids were, you know, that's what they're going off of first impressions. I mean, it's not just gives again there's. So much of this that applies to adults it's kind of like when you're thinking about naming your child that happens like, do not name your child. Billy billy beat me up on the playground and I can't stay and billie still, I mean, we carry these things around on dh that's how children make there quick first impressions is, is there something about you that same? Familiar? So just reading that because it's not like you're doing something right or wrong, but just trying to adjust rapidly for that. She asked about sarah, how about you? Um, you know the thing that I had an issue with this when everyone else is there goes, I do this and I'll do that, but then when it comes my turn, I'm just like uh what I do where's whenever now skies and it's not me in the hot seat it's fine, I'm thinking yeah, that would work or something like that and then look there or but then I can't do it that went once you were in the hot seat is it just don't tend to mae it's crazy there's a lot of pressure suddenly on and that's that's an odd thing I think if you had sat there for twenty minutes for the child and then suddenly everything turned on it would've been a different situation um which is what you get to do in everyday life so it's not like that shoot represents anything that's normal. You know, I was just trying to get an idea of what little technical things because that was all about the technical. It was great that you guys were doing a lot of interaction stuff and feeling how that was going, but this was all about like where's your setting what's your composition like where's, your lighting what little things can be shifted to bounce him right back up and make sure you bring down the head room a little bit or maybe wide in the shot a little bit that's what were mostly tried to focus on there um and in that respect, I think that went very well, you know, and you know, if I were you and I had a pilot's license, I would be talking to every kid I know about that I think that's the coolest thing for anybody, but especially you get those little boys set and you tell them you do, then you explain about it and talk about the cockpit and this and that, you know, that would've been really interesting at that. Why? It would have been really interested in that. She switched up. Uh uh. But, you know, I mean, like, I think you've got like, everybody every one of you have got something really cool in your back story that you can use to relate, whether it's your current life or just something slipped your cool or different about you, uh, I think goes a long way, and I think if you're shooting in america, I would start out by saying, is it just me, or is my voice sound funny to you? You know, just something silly or goofy or whatever put it right out there because that might be another little thing is that you sound a little bit different, and I don't understand it yet, okay? Now, um, just like a play up, use your accent to your advantage. Yeah, the other thing was like, these lights a different cause. I'm also using strobes, and I've not really got much experience using reflectors, and my intent was to get in there and get used to that, but I don't even pick it up, which I wanted to, but all right, I just got so carried away and taking the pictures, I didn't use that, but we can continue to practice after classes and, uh, just to get a little bit amused that I again I think the biggest thing with reflectors is it's easy to hold it up and pointed at the that the subject it's not as easy to think about where's, the light really hitting and what chavez in my filling in and my an ab properly doing it. And I'm like maintaining the position of my reflectors. I'm continuing to properly do it, especially when there's a shift in a re shift that then there has to be a reset. Um, so you were saying, you two, I just I felt the same way, like when other people were up there, I felt like I would do this, and then I got up there and rose rose yet so what was that, what was the feeling was that was it anything to do with shoot that was it was more just the pressure of this just the pressure, I guess yeah, and then the second time around did you feel better but you seem like you felt a lot better. Yeah, yeah, I mean it's a lot of render I felt similarly when one of my lights works the girl is not going well now I get that all right? They're questions from the chopper huns and attends always already tio okay, I want to give a quick shout out um well to you guys on the internet for all the hard work that you did way wants a great job so that is coming from the chat room and then I also want to give a shout out to shine photographs who was in indonesia and is watching and enjoying um so let's get down to questions um first question if you have a forty year old brother this is from northwest foe talk if you have a fourteen year old brother, an eleven year old sister who don't want to touch tch at all, how do you how do you usually saw? Yes, um that is that too school for school you've got to revert to that and you've got to be able to say to them, I don't remember ever wanting to touch my brother when I was eleven when I was fourteen, in fact, when he would come close there's a distinct smell to him, that was just awful, you know? I would go and I would tell a story, and I would share it, and I would again it it's the idea of I hear you, I understand you, um, there's, nothing wrong with you. I'm not mad at you, and you could do one of two things, get them to connect with you and relate and go ahead and do that anyway remember to kind of turn into something I was joking with nikki about, like, yeah, making do it force it on because you can if you can get them engaged in something that's more distracting, um, and also speak to the fact that this is so fast we're going here going here, going hear that word, don, you're out of here, you know what? I would kind of go up that way about it, and again, they don't necessarily always need to touch it don't need to always hug and move, but sometimes you get a sense of like, oh, yeah, I can do this, you know, with brother and sister at eleven and fourteen it's not as likely that you're going to pose them hugging as tight as they can facing the camera cheek to cheek that's not really as much of a shot as you get that age you get a little bit more weight mean you could there's nothing wrong with that but you might get something that is more reflective of their independence for their growing independence a little bit um eleven still pretty young but I would try something where there sitting close to each other but maybe tilted in different directions um and shoot something that way okay I still love one of things that we did get with um white pepper was looking each other you know kind of laughing or smiling and stuff and those kind of shots are fantastic even if it's just something where you say ok then do me a favor look each other and tell each other just how much you do not want a hug anyway you know because they're all game for that like yeah I got lots to say about that so tomorrow you've talked about how most important to you is mood in order to get him to get that emotion so the question from diana art says are there certain times of day that are better than others for certain ages and when you're scheduling your chutes do you factor in the age of the kids into into that the time time to shoot yeah so with infants and newborns I'm going completely go off their sleep schedule when are they wake up from x amount of nap that's a good time for you. Ten great let's do it in the studio are at your home at ten. Most of the time newborn chutes are in an interior location. I have done some we've been out and about and all that's one thing I don't always feel so comfortable safety issues of shooting a newborn on location. I've had some parents that are really adventures with their new boards like let's put him on top of that bridge right there a lot s o I think in this sort of situation oh, and just a little safety tip about newborns and if you're not already doing this, always, always, always have your camera strap on and around your neck in terms of shooting with newborns because I've seen people almost dropped cameras on newborns and it's a really scary, scary thing. Um, that being said, be aware that your cameras around your neck and don't find yourself swinging and knocked the camera into the child the sound that's scary things, but they're unfortunately not unheard of and you just have to be ultra careful about securing your gear when you're working with little chinese defense this children and however on it, I know this isn't about wedding photography but do the same thing when you're shooting from the balcony at a church have the camera strap around your neck don't balance and get some great tripod shot over the rim of the thing and drop it on someone's head um I mean these air it's it sounds a little silly but these things it's scary that's some risks involved with having this big chunky heavy metal equipment and you know getting out to these weird places are getting really close toe little children you used props and then another question from tom on the roof would you consider fixing a toy on the camera to get the attention of a child? Uh well jim, I think you're your video showed a lot of toy like shaking and rather one running was that straddling the strain the lands I do throat if I find I'm in a desperate situation and things are going crazy and I will throw whatever I need to on top of my lens like anything um the I think there's a picture somewhere my block that someone sent me from um uh when I did a workshop in new orleans of ah salamander that jumped on top of my lens but we were out shooting I got a bunch of shots got the best shots these kids there's a hysterical like this is like salamander going like this um you could find it if you type in the word salamander my blogged the search I'm sure you'll find the picture but um yes, so I will. I will resort to that if I need to, but in terms of props and stuff, very little to none very little to not know props. Because, again, it what the image to be about my subject. Um, and if it's something like it's, a lovey or it's, a blanket or a certain teddy bear that they take everywhere? Absolutely. I want to work that into shot. I want to show that connection in that relationship because that's a really strong part of who they are, but in terms of a child coming in and grabbing something from my studio to use in the shot and not know what kind of a similar question. Uh, but helen in northern ireland is asking, how does tamara get variety in studio? And does she find it boring? I find that what parents seemed to want the most is the white background studio, and I find it really boring after a while. Yeah, I understand how she feels. I find that I have to work hard to mix it up lot the studio and we're going to show the budget design challenge where we ran around and grabbed a bunch of stuff that you could used to mix things up in your studio. If it's just shooting on white seamless all day long, yeah, I would tear my hair that would be kind of nutty. Um, of course, you can do a lot when you're playing with angles and you're maybe using some gels and changing the color of your backdrop. Um, the way my backdrops, I have four roller ones that come out and they're all different color. So I have a lot of changes at my fingertips in that respect, and I have different posing stools or benches or chairs or things like that. Um, I have walls painted different colors throughout the studio so they can move people under that. I have these handmade boards that we shot against one on the purple on the plywood. Um, that can kind of break things up a little bit, too. So, you know, in my shooting space alone right now on this isn't a lot of money, but I'm talking about when I have this variety, I probably have something like fifteen to sixteen, seventeen different backdrops, um, and that's just kind of like right there, and I know other people who have forty draping systems. You know, ready to go there to support the right drape and go depending on what they want to do so you could mix it up and you can switch around I shoot around the area of my studio a lot too which means out at about on the walkway on the stairs and the brick space in the alley behind starbucks between the you know, cigarette butts and broken glasses that's a great spot for your two year old right there the newborn yeah switching your part right there so yeah, I think mixing up is really important but you can find a lot inspiration based on how closely you're looking at what you have to shoot with great. Thank you. Ok, right along there's so many. Um nico moon said that you mentioned something about lowering or raising your own height to help avoid shadows and would like to know if you could explain that again. Yes. So if I am photographing a child who is got a little hat on who should get a little hat you um that was, uh that was his name julian yeah. He's matched his hat on the if I have a photographing julian he had a little bit of a lip on that on that grim and it was causing a little bit of ah shadow you could do one of two things you can lift the hat up just a little bit just a hair again you're not changing his look and all that sort of stuff does that would bug him if you pulled it all back on dh then you immediately eliminate that shadow or you dip a little bit lower and you fill for the shadow that is there by using a reflector so that but if I'm trying to shoot straight on and keep that going and knock the reflector and I'm not gonna have nearly as impactful is if I go low open up the space and then shoot I have seen this question come up a couple of times I think yesterday as well when we were doing the the to the tapes shoot to the chain to the tape gets we should always do it like this to two of and the question was I want to know why you don't worry about backgrounds and the video shoots their homes with boats by and the kids and um also what nikki was doing with those went the window ceil um I learned to keep it simple because it can be distracting do you worry about what's in the background um I do I think about backgrounds ah whole lot I will say that I think this situation where I have a fantastic expression I will look up at the back ground I will think okay how can I make sure nothing sticking another head jutting into it that is anything that's over bright behind them that that's going to distract me from looking at them and then I can shoot very, very shallow and know that most of it's going to be very soft there's other times and I probably showed you some of them on the presentation where much of the images background there it's almost as much of a subject as my subject because it has when you bring the two and you marry them together you can have a way more impactful shot so I can have an image uh the mom holding her little boy and they're looking at each other in the snuggling in their cute I can have it that on white seamless and it's it's fine or I could take it out and have it on ah gorgeous landscape where there is texture and movement and flow and there right in front and just everything about it then becomes amazing you know s o I think a lot about background as well as foreground I'm I used foreground a lot my shots whether it's for um aesthetic effect or it's framing or it's some sort of leading line going into my subject um I I think a foreground background a lot but if I'm in a situation where it's pelting rain and it's freezing and the child could barely see me because he's so cold and I get a fleeting smile I'm gonna shoot that really shallow I'm gonna make him the focus and the backgrounds not going to be really anything to do with shot thank you you woke up about focusing and re composing okay and uh benj photo um asked you ever stick with a single focal point but move it off to the center point to a vote to avoid focusing and composing focus I'm sorry can I ask a question again um do you ever stick with a single focal point but move it off to the center point to avoid focus and um I would have no problem with that I've gotten really comfortable with composed focusing and decomposing that's just how I do it it's so you know, automatic for me but I think that would be a great thing for people to dio yeah that's why you have all the points you know when you're shooting off came I mean off camera but faith for say um which you you're doing a lot of but you're not you're not re composing then, right? I mean how would you recompose one tilting and kind of yeah I'm already I'm still shooting again I'm shooting wide and I'm shooting on and so I'm and I'm making it so that I'm focused with my subject a little bit off center just a little more interesting unless the shot is such the fractures on the shots I took but if you saw some shots from the family shoot you know, when I held him away and I'm talking to a little boy, I still have him a little off one way or the other or up or down because I'm thinking about the rule of thirds and putting them in the right access points often unless I want to be a really bold shot where there front and center on middle but if you see her she's right here she's rule of thirds you know and that was completely in camera like that, so I'm still thinking that way from the perspective of what would make this a more dynamic composition what would make this more visually arresting, you know? And so I'm holding it off I'm still kind of tilting and trying to bring that in, but when you're holding it off, you're not clicking and then re composing and mine into clicking, I have done that to you and that's all sound okay, so if I'm somewhere here I'm in, I got it, you know, especially on a white seamless it's not going to focus on the white behind the child so sure the child is feeling much of the frame so I know once it's clicked and I know that my aperture is smaller, so I get more room to get focused that when they click and I'm focused right on the face and such that's a really safe shot to get like okay her focus now it's tells a little bit cool yeah dama created twitter wanted to know if you could talk a little bit about re composing with free transform yes, I mentioned that did not hear you didn't okay what people want so one thing to think about is if you're shooting and you've got your child on seamless and um say for instance, this is a shot and but it was shot so that she was a little bit awkwardly in like she wasn't all the way over and I wanted her over um it just felt better to me then I'll go into photo shop and I'll click edit transform um and I'll play especially white seamless where there's nothing to worry about um also like the area that I wanted to have been longer if I could've framed it how I wanted to be pull it out um and then basically re crop with more room do understand saying, okay, so it's edit free transform tool think about cropping your shot to where you're your subject would have been. So for instance, I wanted her to be a little bit more in and I wished I wish that I had focused the shot uh so that I had this much space on the end of my shot, then what I'll do is I'll take the crop tool I'll crop it so I poured all the way out here and then when I hit crop I'm gonna have this background black space right if my if my background cropping function is set to black um and then what I'll do is I'll go into edit transform hi chase are going to edit transform with um uh my lasso and I'll pull it all the way out to that white spaces and then I'll hit click and then suddenly it's all white and now I just have a wider panoramic shot and that can crop it out on the left so I bring my subject into where I want them to be but this was the background it would look war but if you did that so this is that's why I'm saying white seamus is easy as khun b assuming you're lighting is evening even if you've got very uneven lighting that you've gotta think a little bit about that um if you are shooting outside in a location like this you can still do some of it depending on what the backdrop is I mean you don't want a warp a house warp a mailbox you know warp a hare you can still do some though especially with it like a trees are really soft blown out area bye blown out I mean competent blown out in terms of ex not exposure but depth of field so if it was wide open and be easier todo it was wide open is a lot easier to it's wide open and your subjects very separated for your backdrop background it's the easiest question um when you were we were showing you shooting um from k fish photo is do you use the hist a gram uh to check your exposure languages using the lcd not anymore I used to I used to but not hardly anymore recommendation for people who yeah, I think you're just starting out and try to figure out where how to read your exposure a little bit better um the history ram is a great way to say ok, we're on my it's a great little navigating it's so simple too it's just like I mostly want to be here or here on dh it z just I would pull up hissed a gram how to read a history on google I mean honestly and you'll see a nice visual at an explanation you going you're back to your camera click the info button to seethe shot along with the metadata and the history ram on dsi like what is a proper exposure and how exposes do I have a lot more shadows or highlights or where my where my mid tones I mean get a really good feel for it that way I have a question from I'm not sure how to pronounce this that I'm gonna go with blue what um for clients, when you're when you're shooting, do you divide between studio and outdoor sometimes? Or is that usually one or the other? And you have a higher sales average for the studio or location shoots, or is about equal? Okay, so in terms of sales averages, I do have us higher sales average for on location. I have a very good cells average for the beach shoots, especially most of the beach shoots. I do are very on location. So people in the last few years in a row, I shot out of bald head island off the coast of north carolina, and it's only accessible by ferry. And I have had probably probably eight of the last ten people who came out for sessions came in just for the day. So that's, what that meant is that it was an investment for them, investment of time and effort. And before we even we're talking about a sort of financial effort investment. So they came out to, um, it's, about three and a half areas from our three and a half hours from our hometown in chapel hill area, and many of them were from our hometown. Others come from different areas, and then they get the fairy, then they spend the time that you have during the shoot, and then they go back and then drive all the way home so there's already this perception that like this is not gonna be a four by six purchase you know and there's there's a relationship there's a causal relationship there between how much do they respect this shoot and how much time and effort and they putting in that byeon versus how those sales are going to really turn out and the more you can get that information up front that they really care about this that this is important that they're prioritizing this um the less you have to worry about what your sales averages gonna be questioned on that um just let me wait hold on yeah okay so if ugh how long do you let them like actually purchase their images like is there like if you purchase within a certain amount of time then you get a better deal than if you come back a year later and by more what I've seen people do kind of different deals all over the place and many to great success the way I do it is I put the images out on a slide show let them check him out for a few days week max have them come into the studio we look through everything together I think I'm going to show you that tomorrow exactly how we do that we're going to have the brace family come in and go through the shots on dh then wei will start to sketch hell it's gonna get colder in here didn't you yeah uh heaters on wei will look through the images together and then I will make this well basically will decide on what they want while we're there together andi I've set the expectation that we're going to decide on what we want when we're together so I mean expectations setting is such a huge thing like such a huge thing if they come in knowing okay we're gonna have ordered all the time we leave that prevents a lot of that like well, let me think about it let me get back teo maybe and coming in a few weeks and look at him again that's not the expectation expectations were to come in and we're gonna knock this out we're going to put something fantastic detail for you how do you say that what you're going to show us tomorrow I was gonna say how do you set that expected yeah exactly well now I can actually just I don't wantto put off the information when I leave that shoot with the family I finish up by saying um that was wonderful these'll be ready my images for portrait sessions are turned around in three weeks so I let them know that while the images back to him in three weeks I choose that time because it for a couple of factors one it's just respectful my schedule I have so many other things to do, and I can't get right to it. Number two, I actually find that I do a better job processing images will take a little break from the shoot, so when I sit down with him, I just I guess I just get a chance to see them more and more fresh way. Um, so I really like doing it that way just sit down and say, pull this up and most of them like, oh, e get all excited all over again, it's kind of a, you know, fun, and I do process all my own chutes have been asked that a lot. I do my own editing, I have tried a couple times to work in a way with other people that maybe I could get some help editing it hasn't been successful yet, but s o I don't necessarily advocate that everybody does their own editing. I know other people that handoff editing, and they are doing fantastic that, you know, great stuff for me. I still actually love to edit. I just have a hard time keeping up the pace of it. So I say I say I say to them, it'll be about three weeks until your images are back, I'm going to send you a slideshow, you gonna check him out? Check him out for just a couple days, then we'll get you right in the studio because it again, we've just come off the high of issue every time I'm leaving a shoot it's like you can tell it went, it went well, I'm letting them know there's like a palpable relief that okay? This was worth it, and this wasn't as hard as we thought it was actually fun, and and you got great shots, you know? Um, I showed them a couple of them, so they kind of get it get it cited and a couple of them not all of them, a couple of them, and and we leave the sheet with the realization that when they come in a few weeks, I'm not going to sit down, we're gonna knock us out, and you're going to leave with a terrific set of images that you, we already know what to do with you with this framed or canvasses or books or whatever we want to do, where they get some cool stuff together and usually, like ninety nine percent of time they like, okay, you know, when your other house, if you're on location at someone's house, do you take a look around and see, like, oh, like a really big campus would go really nice the location had a kind of all this room on your ceiling over your yeah, I will, uh I will look around and kind of come up with ideas I don't really say, gosh, this would be a great composite for sixteen did it? I will think in my head about it that part probably comes from me wanting them to be a lot more interested in the quality of the images, then thinking that I'm ready, thinking to sailed to sell to the right, you know, I wasn't like thing you asking that, but just like for when you go to the actual still I think about it, yes, that way, you know, like I will say, when I say like, well, we'd like to an eight by ten to put a pub fire fights and you realize, like, dude, that looks ridiculous like this big um and you could be able to tell them like, oh, I think you have a lot more room there because you know that honey pretends not going to fill that space. Yeah, I'll say funny should say it because I took an iphone pick when I was a lot more room it's not like that, but you get one of the walls and they say, I'm running out of walls and like, no, you're not you know me, but I do know you mean yeah, keep that in mind so that it helps me visually when I'm thinking about how we're doing in the sales session. Yeah, but I won't say that, michael, this would be a great just cause I wanted to be. The focus is on the photographs, you know, versus what is the purchase? Yeah, although eventually, that is the point, you know, and that's. Nothing about sales. I do. People say cash. I feel weird about, like, sales or, like, ask him to pay for it. And I'm like, but that is the purchase that's the point that there's going to be a purchase there's going to be a transaction of that transaction is you're gonna do your very best to deliver them. Art? No, this is art of their family, and they're going to understand that there's a value in it. So that's what the transaction is, by the way, I want to thank you, jim, for my second piece of fruit. Will you please describe this one to me, that is a satsuma matter. See let's, satsuma, mandarin orange. See this set? Sumer, mandarin orange. I'm excited to eat it like susan, those air good, I like to see this part to that's the best. So how long when you get home like, do you look at the photos like like you just like I can never wait I'm always like to put him in looking but you later you couple like for you you you'll wait three weeks before even why sit down immediately download immediately to three places um and then I'll sit down and look at them not three weeks later it's usually about two and a half weeks or so yeah when I'll sit down I tell the client that the images will be back in three weeks but also I'll download back everything up I mean, if there's something like I'm out there and I'm like trying to pull something off and I finally did and I couldn't believe it and I was so excited I will download pull it up and just cry with happiness yes, I'll do that like there's something I'm particularly excited about her just intrigued to see how that came together. Yeah, but for the most part I feel like I know what I got I'm in it and I feel really confident um I will make sure just back it up really closely and and then when I sit down to review it review then three weeks when I got the client list make big I'm not normally although in a couple situations like for instance, if I have a mom who's really nervous and I assure you everything went well and I showed her a couple things and I've got a couple situations where people like I can't even see that like the lcds two smaller they don't you know I will make a point of pulling up an image sending in it you know ultralow rez little blotter mark got it send it over to them and say just so you know I'm talking about and then I usually get a hold of gosh exclamation exclamation because what that does is buy I don't want to waste any time any time with them feeling and he continued insecurity about how that went because none of that translates well the sails I think the sooner they start feeling really good about it the more they start understanding and respecting the fact that this is going to really have been worth it and then but then the onus is on me like this is the part where I don't feel like it sails the onus is on me to do my very best with these images I never never pull up a shoot get kind of halfway down with process and feel like you know what that is good enough I already got my session fee and I'm done I mean I feel incredibly responsible to my clients to deliver to them what they trusted me to capture and that's the whole way through you know that's not just what I shall I saw and shot it's what I saw and couldn't shoot and can finish in post processing so I will be the one that goes back to slide number four and remove that one extra hair across the eye because it was bugging me even if they never ever order that one like I didn't want to show it to them with that like that necessarily have you ever done a shoot and it just didn't nothing that like you turn around turn around after the three weeks and asked for a re shoot or I've never done that no one situation I've had one reshoot in my life uh no no no no I've had to re shoots my life the one reshoot I had was a mom was actually become a friend of mine imam who is a photographer katie williams of your listening whoever you are who we went with her three little boys and we were she might be hearing for the first time that that was my only reshoot that was you katie we went out tio park and she had three little boys and it was supreme chaos and this was really early on I think this was the first year of shooting really early on and I had not a lot of enough time for the session to take whatever turns it was going to take and know that I could bring it back because I had time so in that situation, we did get a lot of shots, a lot of great shots, the boy's individually and one of the shots we were taking. We were on the ark of this bridge, and I actually think I wrote about this. I think I read about this in my book. Things that to be worried about are going to be careful of andi. We had this little little bit I think he was, like nine months old at the time, and he was up on the bridge here. Mom was down here and it was like one of those little footbridges over a little stream and I was kind of here getting a great shot, and suddenly the little nine month old just started completely tipping and just like it was like, happen in slow motion, like new hey started going and the way he was sitting, if he had hit his head, it would have been really a big deal on guy like this leap forward and put my hand here, and I smashed my camera all up and his head hit like my my hand, and he was startled, but he was fine, but it was like I learned so much from that one if I'm gonna have enough of a distance to get the shot, mom or dad's going to be right next to them every time and I didn't think to tell her can you please be right here out of frame just in case there's a tip um I do that all the time now all the time on dh that's twofold one I was to keep the child safe but number two putting the onus on them to keep the child you know and then the other experience I had uh oh and then so the reshoot was simply trying to get all three boys together after he tipped we were all freaked out I probably more than anybody on dh so we came back and put the three together and got some great shots. The another time was a bride who on her it was a bridal portrait and she passed out so we give her a break, let it go and came back and did a reshoot so building on that because people have asked in the chat room what would you recommend tio people out there if somebody if a if a client comes back and wants a reshoot, they're not satisfied with the images? Um I would say first of all, I mean, I keep saying this and but honestly, if you're giving enough time to each session there should never be a need to do a reshoot um obviously a couple things you need to be really careful about is that you are going out with enough comfort level and technical knowledge that you are the living technically strong images you know, um if the shot if the shots came out like they're dark and they're back focused and the images or fuzzy and this and that I think there should be a reshoot, you know, I think that that's an issue that needs to be addressed because the fact is they're paying us to be professional and part of being professional is knowing the equipment you're using, you know, if it's a style thing making the style thing if the style of the okay, so this is what I do when I shoot, I will always shoot I think I mentioned this over with wyatt and pepper is go ahead and get a couple of those nice, clean portrait's at level straight on right here and then play and d funky stuff and cool things, and but I get you know what I call my safety shots? I get the shots that I know that they're looking for, what the family is looking for it same thing at weddings, go ahead and get the group portrait and go ahead and get, um, the shot for the paper of the couple and then play and get different angles and stuff, but if you're going back to a client and you're only showing them the stuff that you think it's cool and not the things that you know that they're looking for especially if it's the stuff you've shown on your website and they thought they were buying right well that's not actually fair either you know so I think it's fun to play and get some really cool things were talking during the image critique about putting the challenging yourself always work out with something that's impactful right you know or is exciting and fun for you and I'll say that often during a shoot I'm like no no we're done with the shoot now this is just for me and I mean it transparent yeah I have a question from scotty web twitter help me scotty he's been doing some good blocking yes yeah he says how do you think we can push into new boundaries within child photographer and he says for example pushing the new trends new books are new looks or take it further um how can we push the new trends in photography onto our subjects who may be a little bit more mainstream and not ready for the new stuff yeah I mean his initial question is how can we push into new boundaries within child photography yeah, I think that that ties in perfectly do what we were just talking about is go ahead and it's kind of like anything you know you're uh no I'm not gonna make that joke. Um let's give another example if you're in a situation where you're on a date for the first time and you don't know each other very well, and you've got the snarky sense of humor and you want to see if the other person finds acceptable, you might want to start out by kind of little, easy, easy jokes that are soft and simple and just see what they relate to if they have a similar sense of humor and then and then later in the day, you can go ahead and make a little comment that you think it's funnier and is maybe a little more risque or not always acceptable for all forms of social comfort, and see how they respond it's, just your using them in and it's the same thing with this kind of portrait session, I would go ahead and take some of the mainstream shots that you think they want to take, and then see if you can push the boundaries a little bit and what you might find as you show your clients the images later and they're like the shoot was really good those ones at the end, this quirky ones where you're laying on the ground and this was here and that was there, I didn't even know I love that these air fantastic, you know, and I've had that I had a shoot last summer at the beach where I did some images of some sister's running in and out of the along with the into the skyline and they're coming in out and I did some really funky things with exposure where I had them basically be almost so blown out that they like stick figures, but I had a kind of a soft treatment on the sky, so was washed instead of just bright white, it was like a wash treatment. Um and I thought it looked just really cool, like the way they're moving, you could see more of their form and no detail of them whatsoever. Um, and I thought that I was going with because the client was pretty, you know, we've done some shoots before and they like kind of my look, which is mohr along like this, but that was a little more funky, and, uh, when I was showing them images, I pulled it up like wondering and dad, late forties, like, I absolutely love that, and then I'm getting like, a forty by sixty some crazy size canvas that was, you know, it was just fantastic, and that was a surprise to me because I almost I, like, hesitated, I was like, I'm gonna throw it in, you know? So I think that the truth is oftentimes we may be a little bit more conservative than our clients would be you know and to go ahead and trust them tio you know, decide what they like question from elle's earlier on today was wells wanted to know did you start out shooting film or have you always been a digital photographer professional? Well, if you remember when I talked about my background I was not the person who started out from scratch shooting with you know I'm able to yeah, exactly everyone's well, talk to people at someplace like yeah, I got the first nikon f r seven you know, like no, I don't know um and uh that's not brand is it but that's not a product. So uh when I first started shooting and start taking a little bit more seriously I was shooting with both film camera and the new digital camera kind of try to figure it out on dh what I discovered for myself is that the the exposure on the digital camera I was actually less forgiving and that was a surprise to me because I was just starting to try to figure it out and get really good at it on dh so that was interesting to me and of course and I think most people know this one of the most amazing things about digital cameras is that you can see how you're doing shot by shot as opposed to roll by roll um and you can also make adjustments I don't hear this a lot, and I think this is one of the major advantages that digital is that you can adjust your s o shot by shot I mean that's, huge that's incredible to be able to say, you know, and I won't be one hundred and a hundred on this next shot first, let me get this role finish and go the next one, I have multiple cameras. Yeah, one bucket weighs fourteen camera, so the answer is kind of, but mostly hunker down on digital and have been digital exclusively for seven years or whatever you think. Welcome. So you talked about shooting at beaches, and then you've seen all these videos with you in the pouring rain you can feel like, how do you protect your gear? I mean, the beach is the worst place for a camera when it's windy and for the best place for care, I mean, just sand. Yes, yes, there when I mean, I've I've lost in ridiculous conditions like I was actually choking out a sheet about two years ago where I'm like this, I might as well be broadcasting the weather like it was one of the shots where someone's barely pulling onto a pole uh, I'm reaching you from, uh, the esso I've definitely done some crazy weather shots a couple of things one when it comes to beach photography I think that's probably where I get injured the most because I definitely feel like I've got to go to where the kid's gonna respond best and that's often in the water often very high in the water and one I find especially when I've got a child who is not responding or is very distracted because the beach is this there's so much going on the beach there's the texture of the san there's the wind in your face there's a siegel's coming overhead it's wide open if if there's any other people around you try to shoot on pretty much non populated beach areas uh that could be a distraction too so because there's so much coming in in terms of just stimuli I need to be extra interesting and so will often let people follow me into the water that way and and shoot that way can you jump on kino real quick that my presentation from lighting I want to show something real quick just go ahead yeah poppet play is it ready to go? Um not yet. Hold on one second I want to show you one of my very favorite stories about shooting at the beach on dh forgive me if you've heard it before but I think it's worth it is uh okay, so the oh I talked about barack obama photographing barack obama and hillary couldn't this was interesting because what one of my quest to photograph barack obama? When I got that portrait session, I had gotten some commentary on my block about how come I only showing him and not hillary clinton? Um and I was like, well, I only found a way to photograph him. I didn't find a way to shoot hillary clinton. And so a long story short, a woman who was associated with the clintonfoundation hooked it up so that I got some time alone with hillary clinton. When she came in north carolina, I had my like fifteen minute photo session. I mean, that's funny. Some of the ways that you could make your dreams happen is just by showing other other dreams and the people went their dream to happen. Tio again, these are photographs. This is not a political statement. I did photograph john mccain, too, so but I'm on the beach, and, um, I was, uh, basically dealing with probably one of the more difficult subjects there was, which was my daughter, and she was three and a half three, almost three on dh. She was terrified of the water she's terrified of the ocean to the point where if this was the beach and this was the water, she was all the way over here, and I had a come in teo come closer and closer like all week long and at the very end of the week I finally got her to go the water's edge we put a like fun dress on her and I asked her to follow me into the ocean and the basic I was stepping backwards and akin the question is about protecting your equipment I'm my camera is no longer here it's never here it's now here you know or I'm coming down and it's a little bit higher so I'm keeping the focus is a little higher but I'm definitely keeping it out of the water I've got my lens hood on most of time and as I'm walking backwards and she's stepping forward I'm making it all about our interaction um and I'm talking her and I'm recognizing that kid's either find things very, very funny and that distracts them or they're filled with a sense of wonder and that distracts um it's nearly always these two things it's funny or its wonder wonderful but it's you know it's something that's full of wonder and funny was not working because she was so like everything's coming in I'm in the water and I was her stuff so I had to make it about like I wanted her to feel the wind on our skin and I wanted her to feel what the water was like this is kind of warm is a super calm bay area and she started slowly relaxing and then I told her to look up at the clouds on and when she looked up it was able to get my catch lights, which I was thrilled about it like a soft wind in her hair and she just like she just dropped all that fear for just that moment and I talked about how all we need is a moment or a microsecond um and end up getting this shot and I love that because you know that again all we needed was a second that didn't last for fifteen minutes you know, um but it lasted for what I needed for an image that now is a massive campus in my home um and that that had to mean that I was farther back too, because we're already pretty far away from the shore if you could see we're shooting very wide open on dh I'm even farther into the water than she is but you know it's worth it for me to get the shot toe just get messed up and get you know, in these kind of tricky situations where you have to be a little bit more protective um but you get that wonderful sense of like you have a question playing off that um do you ever have a couple questions so a d ever hire other photographers to take pictures of your family, be um, if you could pick any photographer in the world that isn't like, uh, I don't if you follow a lot of other like bloggers or whatever, but isn't like that, you know the mainstream like bay beacon trial or whatever, who would you pick to photograph your kids or family if that's so? Yeah, number were couple people if you don't want to leave, someone else had never won the when I went tio, when our whole family went to ecuador to adopt an elisa we and right before we left, my friend is a photographer, a tina wilson and tennessee said, when you get back, I want to photograph your family is a gift, and I was, like, and she's so sweet. Q and she's, a great talker when I was like, I would love it on dh. Then we came back and there was chaos for a year, um, chaos that might be the work in life balance thing. S o the chute didn't happen until over a year later, and I said, well, if you're my family, let me photograph yours, and so we end up meeting in asheville. North carolina and, um, just did a shared photo shoot, like shoot photograph us for twenty minutes out, photograph her for a while and, you know, back and forth, back and forth, and she got some lovely photographs of us, and that was the first time I've had my family photographed by a professional, because in the past, what I would do is either set about on tripod or get the settings are right handed to somebody else and tell them, just take a ton of shots, and I'm gonna pull the cool ones, impresses them, you know? S so that wasn't fun experience that was actually really cool. S I did do that in terms of who would I have, um, photograph my family if I could choose anybody in the whole world? Oh, you know, whenever I get a question like what's your favorite or what's your dream or it's like role, but they call, like, the really popular, like everybody knows about this person, this person in this particular arthur, everybody knows, obviously, after photography. I mean, come on the internet for thousands clearly. Jeez, um, like, not people that everybody knows about, like, do you have any words that you kind of follow that don't have a huge following yet, but well, after today but well, after today, when you say it, you know, I probably am kermit mid commons, okay, so you know who that is? That's. What I'm looking for, someone a little bit that would probably be the one I would choose what's, his name, carpet my conference, kermit, huh, yeah, that's, our jews, who, ok, and I made up the name kermit becomes let that go. I don't want people to waste time searching. Wear is kermit. They already have. Who is that? Uh, I'm gonna think about that. Got you the proper answers about a dinner with frog. Yeah, I'm really here. I hope you're ready for roc. Hear you say, yeah, kermit's love.