By Hector Reyes
Fashion magazines, retail stores, online boutiques, billboards – would you like to see your work in these places? Well, if you do, you need to bring your A-GAME! Whether it’s Nike or the little clothing boutique downtown or anywhere in between, planning your shoot is essential. If you don’t want any surprises that will make you look like a newbie to your “big” client or you just want to ensure you can get a return business, you need all of your ducks in a row! Let me walk you through how I cater to my commercial clients. A little planning goes a long way!
The vast majority of my business comes from my Instagram. Say what you want about social media, but if you’re not on a “social” you’re missing out. Instagram is my social media platform of choice because it is uniquely made to showcase photographs. In just a few seconds without clicking or scrolling, you can see hundreds of my photographs in just a few swipes. After all, that’s what clients want to see… your photography and photographic style (Disclaimer… when it comes to marketing, you go where your clients are…my clients are on Instagram – IG).
When I get a DM (Direct Message) on IG from a potential commercial client asking for my rates, I ask a few vetting questions (age, location, type of shoot and number of wardrobe pieces) then I ask for a phone call. During our phone call, I’ll get enough information to understand their needs and wants such that I can generate a priced proposal unique for them. The proposal is a great way to present a professional response to their inquiry. My proposal has a section on me (the Photographer) that discusses my qualifications and professional affiliations. It also has a section on similar work I’ve done in the past that gives the client a sense of ease that I have the experience to conduct their shoot. There are also sections describing the location and creative team needed for the project. Finally, there is a section showing the itemized price for all the elements of the shoot.
One thing I offer my clients is that I act as the Producer for the project and offer them “one stop shopping.” Basically, if they contract with me, I’ll hire the models and the rest of the creative team – Hair/Make-Up Artists (H/MUA), Photographic Assistant (PA), rent the venue, cater the lunch etc, anything to make their life easier and therefore entice them to contract with me. Once they agree to the scope of work, deliverables, price and timeline, I send them a contract for their digital signature.
Once the contract and retainer are out of the way, I’ll schedule an in-person consultation so we can nail down all the details. The details we discuss include the “vibe,” or the feeling, the client wants the images to convey. We’ll also pick a date for the shoot and a backup date if the shoot is on location – you never know what the Texas weather is going to throw at you. We’ll also discuss the hair and makeup that will help convey the vibe. I’ll also ask them to show me an image they like or that inspires them. That helps me see what’s in their mind’s eye and is the first step in creating our Mood Board. The Mood Board is a collection of photographs that helps the team visualize the type of images we’ll be striving to create. Sometimes the images are ones I created but most often not. There will usually be images of locations, poses, hairstyles and makeup looks.
Once all the details are decided upon, I’ll go back to my studio and create an Online Call Sheet. The Call Sheet has all the pertinent details: Client or business name, shoot dates, location address, team members, start/stop times, instructions for each member of the creative team and the mood board I created with the client. I use the Call Sheet to hire the models and creative team. I send the Call Sheet and a few other requirements to the modeling agency to get a “package” of models for me to choose from. I also send it to potential H/MUA’s and PA’s seeking their availability. As each member of the creative team comes onboard, I’ll update the call sheet with their names and IG handle. I want everyone on the team to be able to communicate with each other as needed. The wardrobe stylist will always want to reach out to the model for dress and shoe sizes. Similarly, the MUA will want to give the model instructions on how to prepare their skin for makeup. Since the call sheet is online, it’s always accessible. Then, as the shoot day nears, everyone knows when and where they are supposed to be.
That level of organization is very much appreciated by all. The client sees it as a sign the shoot has been professionally organized and will be conducted on time and on budget. The creative team sees it as a sign that their time and contribution is valued and respected. The creative team, at a minimum, includes the Creative Director (I often act in that capacity), Photographer, Wardrobe Stylist, MUA, Hair Stylist (on occasion), Model(s), and PA(s). One of my larger shoots had a creative team that included the Client, their CD, Stylist, 2 MUAs, 3 Models, and PA, all helping me get the shots of 80 wardrobe pieces in 8 hours.
When the shoot day comes around, I prepare all that I can ahead of time. I like to stagger arrival times of the creative team to maximize efficiency. I always ask my assistant to come first to help organize. Then I’ll have the wardrobe stylist come in so they can hang up the wardrobe pieces on my racks and steam away any wrinkles. Next, the hair stylist and makeup artist come in, disinfect their work surfaces and put out their tools and products.
I always have the models arrive last, so everything is ready for them. Before we start hair and makeup, I’ll have a pre-shoot meeting with everyone to go over the plan for the day to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Once we start on set, everything looks “choreographed” thanks to the planning we did ahead of time. Even though I’ve planned everything out including a lunch break, I want the shoot to be fun for everyone! We’ll have music blaring (the models get to choose the playlist), there are always snacks around, the makeup artist will be making BTS (behind the scenes) videos after they’re done with makeup. There’s always a lot of laughing going on. Even with this amount of planning, not every shoot goes according to plan, but the key is to remain calm, find a quick solution and keep the energy up-beat.
When it comes to posing there are two types: E-Commerce and Editorial. The E-Commerce style posing has the model take on stationary poses that show the Front, Side, Back of each piece and maybe a detail shot if needed. Editorial style posing is more freeform and can be stationary or in motion but must show the uniqueness of each wardrobe piece. I generally stream the images off the camera onto an iPad so the client can see what’s being captured. Streaming images to the client allows them to make minor changes such that the images showcase each look. I often see the clients with huge smiles on their faces because they can see their vision becoming a reality.
Once all the images have been captured, I give a round of applause to the client and all the creatives that put in a hard day’s work. Now comes the sometimes-daunting task of selecting the images to be edited. This can be overwhelming since there are usually hundreds of images to look through. I usually schedule the image review with the client on a different day since everyone is exhausted by the end of the shoot. During the image review, I use Adobe Lightroom and its culling features to help the client make final selections.
When it comes to the post-processing, I do my own post and every image gets a full edit. Although the images are captured correctly in camera, I use Adobe Lightroom for global edits (color temperature, highlights and shadows etc.) and cropping. Final edits are done in Adobe Photoshop including skin retouching and color toning if needed. My clients really appreciate my edit turn time of two weeks. Often, my images are what they need for their website, online boutique or business Instagram account, and they can’t wait to post them.
Since my clients can’t use and don’t want prints, all my images are delivered digitally. Most of the time the images are delivered for use online. I deliver their preferred crop, 4×5 is pretty standard, in a 1920 pixel image at a resolution of 300 ppi. I always love seeing the images we captured being used as intended. Whether they are on a website, E-Commerce sites or the client’s Instagram, it gives me and the entire creative team a sense of pride, satisfaction and accomplishment. Most of the time the clients let me post the images to my own IG. When I post, I’ll acknowledge/tag the client and the entire creative team. The client does the same when they post to their IG. This is where the power of the social media platforms shine, my followers see the images and the client’s followers see the images. And in turn, the cycle starts again. Another potential client will see the images and then reach out to me to inquire about a shoot.
