So you’ve got a great camera, your friends and family have told you that you have “a great eye for photography,” and you’re thinking, “What could be a better job than using my great camera to get paid for taking pictures?”
A few days ago at WPPI/ Photoplus Expo (Oct 2013) in New York City I attended a seminar by North Carolina instructor, published author, and award-winning children’s photographer, Tamara Lackey, she was terrific and quickly summed up a Photographer’s Job Description…
Here is her summary of what professional photographers do during a photo session that I found a little humorous and a lot true:
Professional Photographer Job Description (Photo Shoot Only):
Go out and not only think about taking great photographs, but also pour all your energy into finding innovative, fresh poses that don’t look posed, while constantly keeping your eyes open for fantastic candid moments while brushing back hair and wiping away snot and staying ever-cognizant of using great lighting, even as it shifts and changes bringing in fill lighting and rim lighting as needed, while you are scanning for the most interesting, least-distracting, backgrounds and foregrounds, despite the mosquitoes sucking blood from all exposed skin, and the sting of sweat dripping into your eyes, shooting flattering angles, but also mixing it up and composing and framing as artistically as possible with as much variety as possible while engaging your subjects individually, based on their specific personality types that you have been told about, as well as that you’ve surmised, taking care to represent families as a one, as a collective grouping o individuals who belong together, being sure to adjust your camera and lighting settings, as well as the position of your subjects to keep any collection of multiple individuals in the same plane of focus, avoiding lens glass glare and errant color casting, or any sort of under or over exposure, adjusting your ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure metering and white balance as you go while, of course keeping in mind everything the client wanted from the shoot; both the things they told you, and the things they didn’t, while referencing a list, either in you head or on a piece of paper or on your phone, of everything you wanted to get so you don’t miss out on any configurations that they might want when it comes down to preparing and showing them all the options for what you’ve captured while you are consistently responding to the energy of the unique dynamic that is each subject in each shoot as you create an experience that is exciting, relaxing, fun, upbeat, interesting, and, of course – lest we not forget – comfortable for our client. (Tamara Lackey)
So, you’ve got a great eye… Thats nice 😜
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