Today was perhaps the quickest portrait I have ever, ever shot (bar weddings – which probably helped).
No set-up, no testing, simply arrive, position the person, take the photo’s and leave.
It wasn’t a paid assignment, just a quick shot to show off the branding for portfolio purposes.
But… that does not mean I was not prepared, I made sure the the gear was charged, the settings on the camera
were manually put in before hand (best judgement) and a fixed idea of how I wanted the model / staff member
to be stood.
From there it’s instinct, I knew I had to be either near a window or crank out the speedlite, thankfully I knew the sun
was shining bright so it was a no brainer to go natural light.
It was simply this quick, say hello, position person, get her to stand correctly as possible, quick test shot, check settings,
quick adjustment based on available light and exposure, instruct her on facial expressions, fire away, done!
Not ideal! that’s for sure, but it was never meant to be a proper full on shoot, but I got prepared and got a decent image,
small gripe is I perhaps wouldn’t of cut off the elbow, but the main point of the image was the branding on the hoody,
so small mercies.
Overall happy, so what am I preaching here, 3 things…
1. ‘BE prepared’ as the scouts say, think ahead in as much detail as you can
2. Adapt to the situation and adjust
3. Instinct… and that comes from practice