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with stock photography or with any style
of photography light is an important
part of the story light sets the mood
light focuses attention so light is
important i think i learned to shoot
using natural light and so it's my first
love i can walk into a space and
understand that light but when i wanted
to start shooting with artificial lights
i did find it intimidating and i think
you know as a photographer there's two
sides to what we do there's the
emotional side and there's the technical
side so if you find the technical side
of photography a little more you know
challenging that's okay you just have to
spend time with it the thing about
lighting is that artificial light is
just helping you achieve what you're
seeing with natural light and it's just
about learning to control it
in terms of the photo shoot that we're
doing for this master class when i
walked into the location i took a look
at the light and i felt that the light
was really beautiful it was really
filling the space however i thought it
could use a little more shape and
direction so i did something that i
often do i looked at the direction that
the window light was coming in and i put
my own light in the same spot that way
we're still getting that natural light
but we're just enhancing it a little bit
okay so let's talk about wardrobe
because i really think that wardrobe can
make or break a shoot
wardrobe is a great way to add a color
palette to your shoot i do a combination
i ask my talent to bring some clothing
options from home and i also shop for
their clothing that way we have a
variety of options it's important to
avoid logos
busy patterns keep in mind that things
should feel modern and timeless you want
to avoid things that are overly trendy
because they will quickly date a photo
think about your shot list right what
are the scenarios that you're going to
be having during your shoot what do they
wear to breakfast is it pajamas is it
comfy clothes how do they dress for work
are they working from home are they
going into an office what kind of office
is it how do people dress when they're a
graphic designer when they're you know a
leader in their company they're all
really specific things but they really
help to fill in the story
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there are so many ways to establish
trust uh a couple things that work for
me number one gives the shoot time you
know you can't expect people to just
show up on set and immediately be ready
to start acting uh giving your shoot
enough time to breathe helps people feel
comfortable as time goes by they will
feel more and more comfortable on camera
another tip that i have is just to
listen to people you know when people
feel like
you care about them i think that that
helps them relax and open up you know i
think there's a certain amount of
nervous energy when people get onto a
set in the first in the first few
moments so you know another tip i have
is just to give yourself something easy
to start the shoot off with i almost
like to think of it as a warm-up shot uh
something something that's easy for your
actors or your or or your people to sort
of just like throw themselves into you
know for example maybe doing homework
you know homework is something that like
people can focus on it's something
that's easy for them to act naturally
with so always think about that first
shot you know you'll see that it goes
well and i think that after that you'll
start to feel comfortable they'll start
to feel comfortable and the shoot will
go well from there but whether they're
actors or real people your job on set is
to direct them and help them feel
comfortable because it's when people
feel comfortable that we really get to
the heart of their emotions and that
makes for a great shoot
i like to put all my props in place
before the talent ever steps on to set
that means at the breakfast table i
bring out the milk i bring out the
cereal i bring out the bowls i bring out
the other props that are going to help
the story feel real then when everything
is set that's when i ask the talent to
step into the scenario that way
we have everything the way we want it
and we can just focus on their emotion
once the talent is in place once the
props are in place
i really like to give it breathing room
i don't like to overly direct my
subjects in the beginning i like to give
them a prompt for example why don't you
tell your mom about school today then
i'll step back and just let
the action play out this is another way
for people to feel comfortable
especially if they're not actors
i love working with kids because they
bring their own beautiful energy that
being said they can be unpredictable
so my tips for working with kids are you
know
give them things that are achievable
help them you know talk with them about
the things that they do every day and
ask them to do those things on camera
but also just give them room to be
themselves frankly
some of the best moments i've captured
with kids are when i've just let them do
whatever they want kids have a lot of
energy and you have to give them
opportunities to release that energy
sometimes when things are starting to
feel too staged it's great to just step
away from it for a moment take a break
step out of the scene talk about
something completely different
i often find that when you step back
into the scene that feeling of being
staged goes away and it feels more
natural again if they're new to the
camera if they don't have as much
experience in their head they're just
thinking like how am i doing so being
able to say hey you're doing a great job
that can really just give them a
confidence boost to help them feel a
little bit more comfortable
sometimes to get those really authentic
moments it's important to just keep the
camera ready right sometimes you're
shooting a portrait and you think you've
got it already but keep the camera going
because it's in those seconds that
happen after the portrait that people
start to relax that they start to laugh
if you have your camera ready you're
going to continue to capture great
moments
i always incorporate portraits into my
stock photo shoots these are just one
part of the story that's always worth
telling in terms of when you want to
shoot the portraits it's really up to
you sometimes i go from room to room
with my shoots and if i'm in a room that
has great portrait light i'll take the
portrait at that time other times i'll
leave the portraits to the end it's kind
of a nice way to end a shoot everyone's
feeling really relaxed by that time
hopefully everyone's having fun so
taking some time at the end of the shoot
just to say hey let's have some great
portraits that feels like a really good
moment to do that it's not just about
the things that people are doing
sometimes it's just about purely like
who is this person portraits are always
part of the story it's something that
buyers are always looking for and it's
definitely something you should always
make sure to get during your shoots
something i've done more and more with
my shoots lately is to start to
incorporate video i know that sometimes
video can feel like a difficult
transition for a stills photographer but
you have to think of video as just
an alternative way to tell the story you
already know the most important things
you already understand composition you
already understand how to direct talent
video in some ways is just like a moving
picture when you start to think about
video it's okay to start small you know
your shoot can still primarily be a
still shoot but maybe think of two or
three moments within the day in the life
that might lend themselves well to video
and just take that time take that time
to capture those little video moments if
you're able to bring two camera bodies
to the shoot this is a super easy way to
be able to incorporate video you have
your stills camera and you have your
video camera that way when you want to
switch to video you have the camera with
the settings already the way you want
them
it's just smart to shoot a little bit of
video
the clients look for it and it's just a
great way to maximize your opportunity
with all the different things that you
have available
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you