The Becker Family

My very first paid shoot (outside of church family) was on Saturday. Wow, I was nervous! So nervous I forgot a lot of things! (And I had a whole hour of driving time to think about how nervous I was because I was in Albion with our church.) Thankfully, they were an incredibly sweet family and the woman who initially called me had everyone color-coordinated (something I forgot!), had shots in mind (something else I forgot!!), and took control of the group and kept things simple, yet organized. I know this shot's not perfect. I hope to fix the "hiders" in the back in Photoshop (or atleast one), but overall, it went really well. The hour went quick, but we got a lot accomplished. I learned a ton, especially when I thought about it on the way home. I thought I'd share what I learned for next time:

1.) Don't be so nervous that you forget things!!! Write a check list prior.

2.) Crop wide to leave room for printing and framing. If you crop the shot in your camera too close, you'll end up cropping people out...which kind of defeats the purpose.

3.) Check aperture to make sure everyone (especially the people on the edges) are in focus. Use a smaller f stop, depending on the light. Also, use a faster shutter speed to catch the "wigglers" (i.e. kids) and take multiple shots in succession for the "blinkers" (thankfully, I remembered this!).

4.) Double check to make sure there are no "hiders". You should be able to see everyone's whole face clearly. Also, balance your posing. Otherwise it looks like the group is "leaning" to one side. (I should have remembered this!) Stand back and eye your shot to make sure it looks right.

5.) Don't be afraid to be a little bossy. People may get irritated at you at the time, but they'll thank you later with the results.

6.) When it comes to making kids smile, appoint only ONE person as the "helper".

7.) Atleast pretend to be confident in your ability and don't be afraid to charge the full amount you're worth. It's hard work and most clients know that. You're worth atleast your time.
8.) Get a wireless (preferably radio over IR) shutter release. Not only will you look pro, but you'll be able to fire off those shots quicker. Thankfully, mine was delivered JUST in time, but has a cord. It worked, but I felt limited. It would have definitely helped with getting the kids to smile, too. Mobility would have meant I could interact with them more and channel my Kiddie Kandids days.
9.) For little kids, bring a noise-maker to get their attention. I thought of this beforehand, but was so nervous I forgot. It would have definitely helped.
10.) Keep an open mind, a sense of humor, and go with the flow. It keeps things light and helps everyone loosen up. Luckily, I tend to go into "comedian mode" when I'm nervous - this definitely came in handy with this shoot. By the time we were done, I felt apart of the family because we were all laughing and joking with each other.

Like I said, overall it went great, but the whole time I was kicking myself for breaking lesson #7. When I was asked to do this shoot, I underestimated myself and was only brave enough to charge her for the price of a CD and copyright ($25). The way Matt and I had it set up, we were charging $75 for the first hour, $25 for additional, and $15 for CD's (now it's been revised to $50 for the first hour, $20 for additional). Too late, now, I thought. I finished the shoot, had her sign a release form, and waited for her to fill out a check. I said my good-byes and went home, pumping from adrenaline, feeling confident, but definitely kicking myself. When I got home, I quickly dumped all the photos onto our external, grabbed a few things, and started to head out the door for the hour drive back to camp. I stopped for a second to look at the check she had written me. Boy, she writes her two's weird, I thought. I looked closer. It wasn't a two. It was a seven! She must have heard me wrong over the phone. So, I called her, "This is Jenn Marshall, your photographer? I think there was a mistake. I only charged you $25, not $75." She laughed and said, "I know, but I thought $25 was really too low for your quality work. Besides, you drove all the way from Albion!" I actually felt myself starting to choke up over $50. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Most definitely!" She said. "Well, thank you! Bless your heart!" I said, trying not to seem like too much of a goob. I immediate texted Matt to tell him the news. I was quite shocked to say the least. I don't know if she somehow found our website or what, but either way, it was quite generous of her. I hope to have more clients like her in the future!