If I gave you the link to this page, it probably means we are gonna do a shoot! Yay! I frequently was sending walls of text in messenger detailing all this, so rather than keep doing that, I decided to just post it all here.
This is the most important thing! Not only that you are safe, but also that you feel safe. Being in front of the camera takes a lot of bravery on its own; the last thing I want is for you to also be worried about your safety. For that reason, any precautions that you want to take, I am enthusiastically in support of. Feel free to bring a friend along, or even multiple friends if you'd like.
My only ask is that anyone you bring act as a passive observer. They may think they are helping by coaching or making comments, but in my experience, that tends to be more distracting than helpful.
I will never ask you or pressure you to do anything during a shoot that you are uncomfortable with. If you are starting to feel uncomfortable at any time, just let me know, and we will pivot immediately.
If we are shooting in my studio space, it is a large fully equipped studio in my home.
You can find full details about it here.
Most of the preparation will vary pretty heavily based on the concept. I am sure we have already discussed it, but here are some rules of thumb that apply to almost any shoot I do.
Keep wardrobe simple. I am a portrait photographer, not a fashion photographer, which means that you are the photo's primary subject, not the clothing.
Avoid clothing with complex patterns or text. Accessories can be great or even simple props.
Avoid sparkly garments. Sparkles are great in real life or even in video because as you move, they twinkle. They can't twinkle in a still photo and instead just are random white dots that look more like dust than anything else.
Note: If you are a cosplayer and we are doing a cosplay shoot, none of the above really applies.
Come to the shoot rested, well-hydrated, and not hungry. You will look your best when you feel good and if you are feeling lethargic or feint because you are hungry, that will come across in the images.
For the vast majority of shoots, we will shoot for 2-3 hours. If we are doing a more complex concept, things can take much longer, but we probably already discussed it if that's the case.
I like to keep it pretty casual. I will, of course, provide direction on things like posing, but my style tends to be pretty low-key and try to coach you into natural poses.
I commonly take between 500 and 1000 photos during a shoot. This probably seems like a crazy number, but most of them will be deleted. There will be countless shots of me testing light or us experimenting with poses. The camera will miss focus. You may be blinking. All of those will be deleted.
After the shoot is done, I will put the photos on my computer and cull away all the bad images, usually narrowing them down to less than 100 potential keepers.
Our next step is to work together to choose which ones to retouch. I do not send proofs; the best images are chosen collaboratively, which we can do over a voice call or even in person if you prefer.
Our goal is to narrow it down to about 15 photos which can be rather tricky, but I promise we will get there! It can be tempting to want to edit lots and lots of images. In reality, you probably will only use a few. I'd instead focus on making the very best ones unforgettable than rushing through a ton of images that will never get used.
I'm not one of those photographers who will take a year to edit your photos. Depending on how busy I am, I can usually finish a set of images within a week or two. If I expect it to take longer, I will let you know.
My retouching style is pretty minimal. I won't modify the shape of your body at all unless you ask me to. My preference is not to, but it is your body, so I leave that choice to you. The only "liquify" that I tend to do is increase hair volume and smooth out bumps caused by tight clothing.
For skin retouching, my goal is to make skin look natural and amazing but not fake. I don't blur away pores, but I will remove blemishes. I do not remove any permanent features unless you ask me to.
I will send you a link containing the final images for your review. If you love them, that's great, and we can then post them.
If you have any feedback or don't like the images, let's discuss it. No hard feelings at all. Ideally, it is something I can quickly fix, but if you just don't like the photos for whatever reason, that's fine. I would always rather throw away a shoot than post images you aren't happy with.
We will discuss the usage of the photos before shooting, generally speaking. However, I will only post them to my Instagram and/or my website. Any other use would be discussed with you beforehand and require your permission. I will credit you on Instagram unless you ask me not to.
In return, I ask that you do the same. I also request that you do not modify the final images without chatting with me first. I'm usually pretty easygoing. If we want to make changes, that is undoubtedly on the table, but please don't change the photos by putting filters on them or whatnot.
The only thing left for us to do is shoot! It's gonna be awesome! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'm an open book.