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Lesson Info
14. Asking The Right Questions
Lessons
M0 - Introductions
1Series Introduction
01:30 2Introducing Finn Beales
01:34 3Q&A Coffee With Finn & Alex
09:48 4Welcome to the workshop
02:31 5Gear
06:56M1 - Storytelling 101
6What is a story?
03:50Essence: Location
05:19 8Essence: Character
03:52 9Essence: Events
04:51 10Photography as a Medium
02:27 11Recap
00:44 12The Importance of Shot Type
08:53M2 - Prepare For Success
13Prepare for Success
00:59 14Asking The Right Questions
05:18 15Identifying Your Locations
03:27 16Developing Treatments & Mood Boards
07:19 17Creating a Call Sheet & Shot List
04:59M3 - SHOOT
18Meeting Your Subjects
04:19 19The Board Room
10:12 20Location Recce
05:24 21The Roadtrip
06:13 22Surf Day
06:14 23Shooting Technique 1: 50 & Stitch
07:13 24Shooting Technique 2: Tracking Shot
05:36 25Alex Shoot Day
13:36M4 - Edit. Better.
26Introduction to Editing
03:21 27Making Selects
08:52 28Grading in Lightroom
09:15 29Analog Film Elements Using the Exposure Plugin
09:58 30Building the Story
10:59 31Using Squarespace to Display Your Work
08:55M5 - Q&A
32Q&A: Q&A: Editing
25:44 33Q&A: Pricing Your Work
22:36 34Q&A: Shooting
33:20 35Q&A: Photography Today
24:17 36Stuff That Alex is Curious About
14:38Outro
37Alex
02:09 38Finn
01:12 39What Alex Learned
02:12 40Bonus: Finishing Touches in Photoshop
13:04Lesson Info
Asking The Right Questions
Asking the right questions, okay. You receive an email from a prospective client. You know this sort of thing. "We came across your Instagram account. "We love your work. "Would you be interested in collaborating with us?" How do you move on from there? What questions do you ask to move that email into a proper shoot? Always respond positively. "Thanks for your email. "Love to hear more. "Really excited about the prospect of working with you." Then you need to ask them questions. Drill down on their expectations. So I have a set number of bullet points that I'll bounce back to them. So I'm like, "Thanks very much. "Do you have a project brief you can share?" Sometimes prospective clients already have a brief sorted, so you can cut out a lot of work by asking for that. If not, I ask them to fill out a number of bullet points as best they can so I can get more of an idea of their project and their requirements. Number one, I ask for creative specifications that might be mood boards. Any ...
example imagery that they can give me so I can get on the same page as them. Particular subjects, what am I shooting? Is it a product? Is it a location? I may have addressed this in the opening line, but I still like to put this first one in there so we have it written in writing. Number two, shoot dates and the timeline for deliverables. Really, really key because if this campaign needs to be delivered in the fall, I can use fall colors. The trees are gonna look amazing. If it's gonna be delivered in mid-winter and it's a a beach shoot, (laughs) that's gonna be tricky. I'm gonna have to fly to a different location to get those sunny scenes. I can't shoot that in my backyard in Wales, very gray in the middle of the winter. Number three, desired regions and locations. They may already have some thoughts on this in mind. It's good to get them thinking about it, and manage expectations from the off. Number four, ask for a shot list, or at least a number of deliverables. I need to know what they want from me from the outset. Number five, any social media asks. This will have ramifications on cost, but it will also have ramifications on how I approach the job. If I'm putting images on my Instagram account I need to create imagery that's gonna sit well with the rest of my content. I'm not gonna put anything on my Instagram account because I'm aware you guys all follow me for a reason. I'm not gonna just advertise stuff to you because I'm getting paid loads of money. It needs to sit right for us all, right? So number six, I'll ask for the full usage terms and also usage period. So this is how are the images gonna be used? Are they gonna be used on a billboard campaign? Are they gonna be used on a client's social media account? Are they gonna be used on TV ads? All of these questions will help me start to price the job. Because if it's gonna go on a billboard, it's gonna be ca-ching! (laughs) It's gonna be a little, small magazine advert, it's gonna be a bit lower down. But all of this will help me start to produce the shoot and work out how much everything's gonna cost. You should also ask about use of likeness in this question, because increasingly I'm being asked to feature in BTS videos or even campaigns where I'm actually shooting campaign for a brand, and they're using my profile to advertise their product. That has a value. Don't let that slide. Also worth raising any competitor brands or exclusivity terms. And what I mean by that is if a car company approaches you to shoot a campaign, they may have a line in their contract that says you can't work for any other car brand for a set period of time after you deliver those shots. that's really, really key, because if the campaign isn't worth much money and you agree to it, but then a Lamborghini campaign comes up and that's worth a huge amount of money and you can't take it because you are signed into some exclusivity deal, you're gonna kick yourself. Check the small print. Finally, I ask for budget parameters. It's really good to have some sort of ballpark figure. It's a bit like going to a builder and asking how much it costs to build a house. What do they want, you know? The builder's gonna say, "What do you want? "Do you want lots of glass? "Do you want it built out of straw?" (laughs) All these questions are exactly the same as asking a client what they want from their shoot. So by receiving answers to all these questions, you can start building out that project brief for your client. You can start doing their legwork for them. They'll take you more seriously. And hopefully this is gonna transition into a commissioned job. (ethereal piano music)
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Brent Morris
Fantastic My thoughts on the storytelling workshop. The short is; it’s fantastic. The long is I loved all the details covered, from shot types and the ideas behind them to the call sheets and shot lists, and the whole process. I felt like I had a better understanding of how to schedule a professional shoot and I really felt like I had a much better grasp on many ideas and concepts, and I believe I’ve been able to improve my photography with them, so thank you and Finn. It really is fantastic.
Oswaldo Martinez
A path to better stories Very happy I got this workshop. Finn and Alex do a great job at teaching highly useful methods and specific advice to help you improve your own work, and more importantly, tell better stories that are meaningful to you.
Tommaso Selleri
Simply the best This is simply the best workshop out there on photography and storytelling. Finn is awe inspiring and so real and authentic. A pleasure to watch, a joy to learn from such master. I really hope a volume 2 is coming soon! Thank you for this one!