|
Preparing for your Photos by Madman photo session.
This page contains several random tips on preparing for your sessions. Most
apply whether you are using us or having "Uncle Joe" who really needs all the
help he can get or anyone in-between. With all due apologies to the Uncle Joe's
who are great photographers - you are not the Uncle Joe we are talking about
here!
WHAT IF SOMEONE WEARS GLASSES?
Does anyone wear glasses? If so,
here are 3 suggestions:
-
See about borrowing a pair of rims from whomever you purchased the glasses.
-
Can you easily remove and later replace the lenses from the glasses? If you
don't want to do this yourself, sometimes the place you bought them from will
do this for you for free - they take them out, you have your session, then they
put them back in for you.
-
If neither of the above are acceptable, lets “look” at the glasses to “guess”
what type of reflections we are likely to see so you can decide whether to go
with reflections or sans-glasses. Remember that people are used to seeing
reflections on glasses so small reflections are usually not objectionable, and
larger ones are sometimes acceptable.
So called Anti-Reflective glasses are actually "super reflective:"
If someone has so called "Anti-Reflective" glasses, these are the worst. These glasses
are designed to REFLECT all the reflections OUT of the lenses so the person wearing
them doesn't see any reflections. Unfortunately, this means that from the camera's
perspective, they are highly reflective, and in some cases, almost mirror like.
The extreme reflections from Anti-Reflective lenses also tend to have a colour tint,
most commonly green. If you wear Anti-Reflective glasses, and you don't want to
see reflections, it is important you consider one of the options above.
Your perscription makes a difference:
If you have a very slight perscription, the glare will be both worse, and better.
Worse in that, when there is glare, it will cover the whole lens. Better
in that, it is usually easier to position your head to get rid of the reflection.
(Note however, if they are Anti-Reflective, they may reflect light back out in a
wide range of angles, so the only way to tell is to test.)
If you have a very strong perspcription, the glare usually will just be a 'spot'
and frequently isn't considered a problem by many people. (Note however, if they
are Anti-Reflective, the Anti-Reflective coating can make the glare larger because
when it reflects it away from your eyes, it can spread out more and make the glare
spot larger.)
In between we have the worst of both worlds, the glare is large (though not necessarily
the whole lens) and no matter which way you turn your head, there will be glare.
So these are the ones that most need a 'solution'. And, you guessed it, a medium
perscription with Anti-Reflective lenses is the worst combination.
CLOTHING COLOR:
Generally there is no problem with clothing color. The big exception is if you are
going to be shot against the "green screen". The green screen lets me more easily
remove the background and plug in a replacement background. However, it does not
work if you are wearing green. Green pants. Green shirt. Green earrings. In certain
conditions, if you have a green logo or green image on your shirt, I can work around
that by masking it out during conversion. But green that will be on the edges (such
as a green shirt) cannot be worked around without a lot of work that I'll have to
charge for. If you really want the green shirt and you still want the green screen
- talk to me first so we can discuss the consequences. Other than that - any colour
goes, even white and/or black.
Remember to check for clean socks that
match clothing!
SHAVING:
Shaving: You want to look your best
for the photo session or wedding right? So what is the natural tendency? It is
to get a brand new 3 blade razor and get that perfect clean shave! But wait,
unless you do it this carefully every day and your skin never reacts to it,
this is not a good idea. A better idea is to start with a new blade 2 or 3 days
ahead (3 or 4 days ahead for those of you with beards - you don't wear a blade
out as fast because you don't shave as much - well, unless you shave your whole
head.) On the day of the photo shoot, just do a good job with the slightly dull
blade. Sharp blade or slightly dull, don't work hard at a perfect job because
if you do, you will undoubtedly have little red spots (or worse big red
splotches) on your neck and/or face. If you shave with an electric razor there
is not usually any problem, test aggresively shaving a week or so ahead of time
and if no problems shave away on the shoot day. If you have a beard or
moustache that you are going to remove for the photos, please remove it a week
or so ahead and gently shave each day including the morning of the shave.
HOW TO FIND US:
Do you know how to get to your shoot location?
If you are coming to our studio, you can get a
Map to Studio from
this linkor we will happily give you verbal instructions or fax or mail a copy
of the map to you.
ALLERGIES/ANIMALS?
Do you or your crew have any Allergies?
Dog? Cat? Peanut Butter? Other? If you are coming to our studio we have Dogs, a
cat and peanut butter, but we also have procedures to minimize allergic
reactions our
Allergies link
has more details.
How are you with medium sized dogs?
We have 2, one is a chicken and will bark from 20 feet away, the other will
come up for a pet and happily shed all over you if you let her! If you
prefer, when I know you are coming I can lock them up at the North end of the
building so they won’t be a bother.
SENSITIVE, BUT PRACTICAL:
Someone sensitive about their weight?
Now this is always a delicate one, but lets discuss it anyway. If someone feels
they are too heavy or feels that the camera makes them look too heavy, there
are several things we can do. Some have a minor effect, some a major effect.
The most significant thing to do is to tell the photographer so they know that
this is a concern. The most dramatic effect can come from wearing black with a
black background and then positioning people so the person who
is sensitive has "sensitive areas" blending in with the black background.
As a point of interest, it is usually very easy to get most black clothing to
blend with a black background, but white stands out on white unless the whole
image is over-exposed (and you don't want that because faces will look washed
out.)
BRING YOUR CHILD'S FAVORITE TOYS:
Having a studio shoot? Take along appropriate "props".
Take along favorite toys, stuffed animals. For toddlers – take a toy that they
like to run behind pushing (of course, this assumes you are having
your photos taken with us, if you are doing a Wall-Mart
photo shoot, any toy that encourages movement should be left at home). Anyone
have favorite or fun hats? What about favorite hobbies, A fun/favorite
chairs? Work clothing/props - especially if you have a smaller childrens
version - this can be sooo effective.
|