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Questions for a Commission Shoot

Lesson 98 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

Questions for a Commission Shoot

Lesson 98 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

photo & video

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Lesson Info

98. Questions for a Commission Shoot

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Yours is a Story Worth Telling

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Questions for a Commission Shoot

Now if you're working in a commission portrait situation, let's say that it's us and we are going to be creating an image together, we need to think about what we're going to ask that person to be able to create an image that they like, that feels good for them. So when I'm thinking about questions for my clients, this is typically what I'm asking about. Is there a certain theme that the photo shoot should evolve into? Is there a certain feeling or emotion, an idea or an opinion that you wanna get across in this picture? Anything that you like or don't like? Not like french fries versus avocado or something like that, but you know, like certain visuals that they're drawn to. What insecurities do they have? That's a really big one, because even though somebody's asking to have their picture taken, that doesn't mean that they love having their picture taken and we always have to be cognizant of that, that they might not be comfortable in front of the camera. Is there any symbolism that t...

hey wanna bring into this photo shoot? Different momentos that mean a lot to them maybe that they want incorporated? What their expectation is? Do they want to walk away looking like a glamorous person in a flowing gown or do they wanna look muddy in a hole? I can do muddy in a hole, I can't do glamorous very well. So expectations, very good to set on my part as well. As I mentioned earlier, I'm never ever going to tell a client of mine that you're gonna be perfectly clean throughout this whole shooting situation. No, because I almost always end up throwing baby powder on them or putting mud on them or just doing something weird because that's how my work flows and I like it like that. Logistics in terms of are you coming to me, am I coming to you? How are we going to do this photo shoot? Indoors, outdoors? And reference images. Reference images is a really big one here just in terms of do you have any images of mine that you have seen before that we could create as a base from? I think that's a really good one. So these are the literal questions that I ask people when I send them an email. If they've inquired with me and we decide we're gonna move forward, price is good, all of that, this is the email that I send them. So who's gonna be my victim? Who did we decide was my victim? Was that you Tory? So I'm gonna ask you these questions and we're gonna see how this evolves. So I've got my little notepad and now we're pretending. I would do this through email because I'm a millennial and I don't use telephones and I guess that's just how life is now. So I'm emailing you these questions, but here we are in person. So is there a location that you feel most drawn to? I would say forest or ocean. Okay, that's really good. And you see, that's going to determine where we end up doing this shoot that we're doing now. Is there a color that you feel defines you? You're not gonna like me for this. I like green. That's good. I also feel very connected to green as a person, so I get it. Is there a color that you feel best wearing? Red is pretty good for me. Red, okay good. Although red and green, I don't know. I don't know how this is gonna go. Bright colors, but yeah. Okay, that's good. What emotion do you wanna portray? If you had to say for this picture. How either you wanna feel looking at it or how you wanna feel in it. Inner power, if that's an emotion. Yeah it is. Power. I forget to put inner first so I wrote power, parentheses, inner. Is this portrait relevant to your life? I know that you don't actually want your picture taken, but just in case. I would love you to shoot me. Oh good. Sure. I don't really know how to answer that question. What do you mean by that? Okay, that's good. So I can refine my questions now. So when I ask that, I mean is there something that you've gone through in your life or that you're going through that you would like to bring into the portrait? I feel like the power part of it has been my journey and I'm owning that more and more. So, yes. Okay, good. So let's see, are there any images of mine that you can call to mind that you feel like you might wanna start from? Something that maybe a location you've seen me use, a concept or just an overall image that you really like? I would need to spend more time with your portfolio. So this one is definitely one that you can't answer right away and this why I email these things. So then, is there anything that you feel uncomfortable doing or wearing? I don't really want to be nude, but a back. No nudes. Yeah a back would be-- Very good to know. Fine for me. Because my shoots tend to end up very clothed and then very unclothed. So that is good. Okay, so no nudes. Do you prefer dark or hopeful images? I want both. Good. Dark and hopeful. All in the same image or do you want multiple pictures that are on either side? That's a good question. All of the above. Okay, both. I mean if you're going to do multiples. Okay, yeah sure. Okay, and this is good 'cause now I can be like definitely do all of them and sell more images. Is there a story that you want the image to portray? I don't have one in mind, no. Okay, so no particular story, but so far we have forest or ocean, the color green, you like to wear the color red, inner power as a potential theme or even storyline or something like that. Yeah, that kind of connects to story. Yeah. No nudes, got it. Is there a particular, now we're riffing, so now I've gone through my list and I'm thinking, okay I need to know a little bit more information. What types of wardrobe do you like to wear? Like dresses, pants? Dresses, flowing fabric. Dress, flowing fabric. Okay, so I've got a lot of information now and this looks pretty good to me. Well mostly because like we're very on the same page I think visually, which is great except for chicken, goat. I'm not gonna put chicken, goat in this one. So we've got forest or ocean, green, wearing red. So this makes me think that I would really like to do something with you where maybe if we choose the ocean instead of the forest, we could do something where maybe you are standing on a rock in the ocean and you won't see the rock and there will just be this crazy red flowing dress all behind you, maybe with a wave coming toward you or something like that to show your strength and power in the middle of this ocean with this wave coming, but you're just resistant to it or something like that. That was my first thought in terms of a location with the maybe green color of the ocean and the red color of the dress or something like that. Trying to think in terms of colors that go together. Cyan is an acceptable greenish sort of color. Good, we got cyan. Okay, I'm even gonna say cyan here. Okay, good. So we've got cyan. Now if we were to move to the forest, I would probably have a more difficult time with the colors that we'll find there compared with the red so I'm gonna have to get back to you on that one. So far that's your picture, but I'll get back to you with more later. But thank you for sharing your answers with me. And that's how I would approach licensing and contracts and commissions and all of that fun stuff. So I'll let you guys look through these a little bit later. But it can be pretty straightforward. A lot of people when it comes to pricing for portrait sessions and stuff like that, it can get really complicated. As you guys probably know, well there's the sitting fee and then there's like all of these layers of do you want an album, do you want wall art, do you want all these things? And I just try to keep it really simple where it's an experience and it's about the experience with me and the person who's hiring me. They get one image or more if they say that up front and then it's all about creating that one moment that we're trying to capture. So that's how I would do commissions. That's how I sell my images through licensing and that's how I write my contracts. I hope that that was useful to you in some way.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)

Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)

Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)

Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)

Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)

Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)

Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)

Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)

Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)

Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)

Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)

Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)

Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)

Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)

Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)

Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)

Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)

Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)

Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)

Bonus Materials Guide

Syllabus

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Brooke Shaden

Brooke explores the darkness and light in people, and her work looks at that juxtaposition. As a self-portrait artist, she photographs herself and becomes the characters of dreams inspired by a childhood of intense imagination and fear.

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topics covered in this class

Fine Art Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

April S.

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Angel Ricci

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

Ron Landis

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

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Questions for a Commission Shoot

Questions for a Commission Shoot

Lesson Info

98. Questions for a Commission Shoot

Lessons

Class Introduction

Storytelling & Ideas

Universal Symbols in Stories

Create Interactive Characters

The Story is in The Details

Giving Your Audience Feelings

Guided Daydream Exercise

Elements of Imagery

The Death Scenario

Associations with Objects

Three Writing Exercises

Connection Through Art

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

Layering Inspiration

Creating an Original Narrative

Analyze an Image

Translate Emotion into Images

Finding Parts in Images

Finding Your Target Audience

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

Formatting Your Work

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

Circle of Focus

The Pillars of Branding

Planning Your Photoshoot

Choose Every Element for The Series

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Sketch Your Ideas

Choose Your Gear

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

What Tells a Story in a Series?

Set Design Overview

Color Theory

Lighting for the Scene

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

Locations

Subject Within the Scene

Set Design Arrangement

Fine Art Compositing

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

Checklist for Composite Shooting

Analyze Composite Mistakes

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Shoot: Miniature Scene

Editing Workflow Overview

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

Edit Details of Images

Add Smoke & Texture

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

Self Portrait Test Shoots

Shoot for Edit

Shoot Extra Stock Images

Practice the Shoot

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

Shoot: Vine Image

Shoot: Sand Image

Shoot: End Table Image

Shoot: Bed Image

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

Shoot: Chair Image

Shoot: Mirror Image

Shoot: Moss Image

Shoot: Tree Image

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

Shoot: Feather Image

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion