Lessons

Lesson Info

10:00 am - Prepping for the Shoot

You want to introduce yourself to the nineteen million people watching you my name's, christine david and her husband wonderful. Thank you so much for coming here appreciate that way we're going to conduct this as if we just met which way? Just met you guys are observers physically in the room, but follow me if you will, into our imaginations way more and we're just sitting down like at your house are the rest of you or whatever we're just chatting so we already know that you guys were interested in doing a photo shoot? Yes, yes, thank you. So we went through all that hard stuff of like, let me tell you why we moved along, we move through it. Oh, then we got tio prepping for the session and that's where we are now, okay. S oh, we're going to pay for the session. Can you guys tell me a little bit about what you're looking for? Okay, um I have a big empty wall that I need a family photo of all of us and being the photographer in the family, I'm not in very many of them. So that's what I'...

m looking for? Yes and it is an occupational hazard, yeah, and dramatic from your life in hindsight, for me, it's important just to really get the kids as they are no big you know, cheese there lots of personalities so wonderful, wonderful and what do you want just to harness the energy there's just so much everywhere stop it for a moment captured wonderful years into this issues you grace ok, so tell me with my rolling okay, I didn't know that was a lot of days I'm kind of getting busy s so tell me about your children. Do you think I want the long answer? Sometimes I ask people because we've literally now speaking for the first time sometimes I asked very pointed questions, but if you don't mind giving this an open a sentiment, I would love to hear it. So you describe this great connor or older sons eight years old uh he really enjoys art and computers and figured out everything works but quiet kind of in himself. So you say quite and himself like more in terms of tell me about that he takes a while to warm up so he's going to want to watch the situation he'll want to watch you before he kind of dives into it, so if you come at him, he is going to retreat yeah he's going to go oh camden now okay on my little one is quite the opposite he'll play with how he is for for so and that's blake, milo redhead, firecracker redhead firecrackers well just just come out like he'll be ready oh well we'll see here's what's amazing here is it's amazing often when I talk to people before a photo shoot they say oh this and this and you get out and because it's such an unusual situation and it is yeah it's a weird thing to say hey let's go picture so yeah I mean because that's so weird it's not unusual that you get in that situation and because it's stressful there's a different personality that emerges yeah, so what? We'll just be aware of what we're seeing and we'll respond at the time but based on what you know yeah, you think we're going to have more introverted personality with your eight year old missing connor, connor and blake? Yes. Okay on dh you say he's into computers and he loves drawing and he loves molding things with claim some artistic yes yeah and then if they have any favorite characters are just stuff right now. It's I don't know if we can say this life but it's minecraft on dh it's a video game that is very old tow us is what we kind of think so it's all blocky characters is over the moon about it he can talk your ear off okay good to know yeah I'm are there anything I don't know my graph of the specific things in the game but I think if you just said minecraft he would mind yeah blown youngblood yes exactly got it. Okay, good. And then what kind of family photographs do you have like how recent are the ones you have of yourselves and a year ago I graduated from college and that was my tricked ourselves so we kind of had thank you, thank you and so we had family photographs then I just kind of a friend so we really don't have I mean the rial last family photo I think of is kind of going back to j c penney's yeah, you know all right, do you have just going into this? Are there any concerns like, you know what that one time are? Sometimes we get photographed, I feel this or is there any concerns you have been taking out business ignoring this do you have any concerns going into this that it would be helpful for us to talk about like, just, you know, this is my good side or don't forget this or anything that you want to talk about well, I just had a baby so I'm a little bit more concerned about baby weight and rolls, so if you watch those I'm gonna write my photos you have a lot of accomplishments, okay? So that's kind of my concern and then the kids I'm not super worried about having that really posed photograph but just that they behave behave so you want them to behave during the shooting you just want to make sure that we get shots of them that are not blurry yeah exactly because I'm a huge advocate for oh yeah road is fun and I love that photograph so we're gonna let them go okay and normally this is not necessary mom or dad but it's not unusual to be in a situation where they get crazier than you would have expected and my kids to do that to you I just had a photo shoot this past spring where I won't point is looking at them saying this is you're off their rockers this's not I found myself like apologizing to charter like this isn't I mean they're normally crazy but this is a new level of crazy I just don't want you to think I'm a bad mother I'm a great mother why are you judging me I mean that's really normal feeling toe have and so if we can as much as possible clear that out you say anything goes and I mean danny yeah there hit near from rocks in the alley I will protect myself for the blows okay it's occurred before billy corrigan so just know that okay she said you know and I'll even double check there might be also times that especially if you know with your eight year old if he's feeling like there's a lot of people around me right now if if we need to just kind of getting a slow quiet situation it may feel that you while we're on the shoot like why isn't she doing anything wear not capped by any time frame in terms of just let it go and I have had shoes where it will be out like in a field and you know, I just had one not that long ago where we went through screening face weeding on die just put the camera down and we waited it out and it can feel like we're just gonna sit here and I failed you know but yes and then that we're actually doing something that's contributing to the shoot because after that calms down in a much better space and we don't have to worry about a reshoot or dragging everybody back out we're just gonna wait it out okay? Yes, I just know that the other thing is if you find that you just can't help yourself like you know I said let behaviour go but that's ridiculous if I turn around and say something you like, remember and I don't want to feel like she is such a juror you okay? Okay, I'm pointing to you because I'm going with the stereotyping you because usually the bed in the chute have the problem with their kids being super crazy just calling that out okay, so any questions for me I just kind of give you my long drawn out monologue any questions that don't go no, I think we've kind of been kind of talking about the process of it we covered that and so you trust me yes, we're comfortable as long as you're okay with throughout I'm gonna be okay with the rocks. One thing I also love to do is while we're out there and we'll figure out how we pull it off with the to them but I would love to get a shot of just the tv together we'd love that good good so we'll get some of that too okay? So I think we're ready to go keep in mind just chat questions that you have them since our sheets not for a couple more days if you you can just right may any questions you have let's pretend and go back in time okay, how about clothing? How about clothing? What do you think is the best that I do patterns or match everybody or you know what is what is your photographer and you know you know, but normally I would tell you that to coordinate you know don't feel like everybody has to look exactly the same in fact, but you don't get something that was exactly the same way because in fact what that ends up doing sometimes is coming across as exactly who you never would all be together at this time and we want to show you more how you always are but in a way that visually appealing dio esto coordinating clothes well and just choosing certain color as your color families or something khun go a long way and if you want we were allowed to the shoot that's actually happening coleman waken you know bring a bunch of different outfits cause I do love to do outfit changes and just switch things up and make things look different andi I have redressed kids and alleyways frequently and it's you know perfectly legal dish um so hopefully we're okay there okay wonderful okay so I think for good if you have questions shopping on along the way about otherwise on we're looking for in the shoot all right thank you we are very they're good though very good there are just a recipe taster in the lounge says gosh, the dad is totally into it now that is either a sport like one of the things we're battling a lot is one of the people is typically the woman more one studio all right let's ask a question question from clare of r a who would like to know is sitting lower than the clients an intentional choice or just a sort of a veil well, I think like suddenly in my head if I could be lower than men and constantly rolling around they have no idea who I am I'm like a shapeshifter and when we're on the shoot they're going to like she could do anything it's a psychological choice plus it was the chair situation that's funny well because because what was it bambi who talked about when the first time our bride comes and actually being in letting the bride being a power position of a little bit higher? Wow, no, I have no thoughts on that. It sounds fabulous all right, yeah. No, this was just what we got. So another question is from bonnie berman do you usually do the consulate with both parents? One issue I have is that generally I do the concert with just the mom and the father is lost during the shoot because it wasn't part of it even though I asked the mom to share the information that we cover a wonderful question often, like I said when we went through the whole process yesterday most of my pre consultations or by phone or skype so it's almost always with mom and I'll say, you know and I ask about, you know, the husband or whoever else is coming to the shoot and then when we show up to the shoot on the day I said you guys had a chance to talk to everything and then I'll confirm with you I mean to the point of saying are you sure your body and you promise you promise and then that way we promise just wait yeah so I will do that is a way of just making sure we're all you know here on this because because most the time you do in this situation specifically who set this up right and you were like pretty much right? So you're going along with it but it wasn't like you sought out this opportunity and you said we must get photographs I want to get a new family photograph et cetera yeah and so we'll do that and then the other thing do of course when you said the wall space, we'll talk a little bit about what you have in mind which you clearly had something right away at my other times will come in and say, you know, I just want to be in some pictures I don't know what I want to do with it yet I'll say that's one you kind of start thinking about you know what you might want to do with this again. I want this meeting to be about emotional engagement, getting to know them so much of what I'm learning is nonverbal I'm learning like how much they're gonna be into this what problems we have information here about the kids is great but I used to do a lot more detailed questions about children I used to have a list that just one after another like if your child is your child like to be had to do they self conscious in public situations are they? Is it something where if I go peekaboo he's going to scream and melt down you know tell tell me these sort of things now I feel like I love to get a little bit of a sense and really explore for myself because what I found as I explain here today is so frequently what I hear as the answer about who the child is may be true in most of their life but this is an unusual situation and unusual behaviors will emerge and so I have to base it on one I see at the time it's not unusual for kids who've never makes a glaring mean face to suddenly do something we're moms like he never made that journey because that's because I'm on some strange, creepy woman with large camera and we've got to work through this that's okay and what I'm not gonna do on the shoot and I'm not going to do in this shoot is ever at any moment and and I mean this take it personally if there's a rejection happening if at first they're not into it or they're hiding from me or my job was just not funny or those right rocks at me it's that that it does no good to the shoot and it's it's very self focused of me to do that. Very self absorbed, I should say, and what I want to dio because so focus is a good pick. But because what I want to do here is make it very much about them and their experience. So I'm going to take that out of it as a barrier to making this show a success.