High Street Portrait Studio - Behind The Scenes

[monkeygirl123]

If you were to look at my CV you would see that for a few years I worked as a fitness instructor at a ladies gym. The words ‘fitness instructor’ probably conjures up images of someone qualified to teach and instruct in all areas of fitness, health and wellbeing. But you’d be wrong. I had an afternoon’s tutorial learning how to use the gym equipment and was then presented with my FITNESS INSTRUCTOR t-shirt. When I walked through the town on the way to work the following day (smoking a cigarette and shaking off a hangover) I felt like a fraud.

I also worked for several years in a high street portrait studio as a photographer.
And I must have been one because that was my job title, right?

Wrong.

When I started that job I had done little more in the photography world than pick up a point and shoot and snap hideous family and holiday photos, most of which ended their lives in the little envelope they arrived in, never to be seen again. So when I walked into the portrait studio on my first day of work, I was absolutely terrified. Greeting me was an enormous camera on a tripod, lights, cables, backdrops, props and all sorts of other things which, quite frankly, scared the hell out of me. I can remember peering down at the camera with it’s multitude of knobs and dials and buttons and wanting to run like hell. There was no way I was going to get to grips with it, let alone anything else. But to my surprise – and the reason I stayed – was because I didn’t have to.

Everything on that camera was locked; fixed in position. Yes, I could move the tripod where I wanted it to go and I had to manually focus, but other than that there was no leeway. There were even painted crosses on the floor – positions for head shots, full portraits and such. The lights/flashes just did their thing all on their own; they were all set up and ready to go. I didn’t have to know how they worked, they just did. The most technical thing I had to learn was how to remove and replace a film.

Of course, even if I’d been given extensive training on understanding the technicalities of cameras and lighting, I still had a mountain to climb. How would I pose people? What would I do with one person? Three people? Ten people? Would I sit them down or stand them up? Where would I put their hands? You’ve probably guessed by now that all of those things were already decided as well. Hands on knees, one over the other. 45 degree body angles. Triangle shapes. Glasses down. Big noses forwards. And on and on it went. Although they were useful tips to know, I wasn’t ever allowed to deflect from them.

I worked there for several years and hated most of them. I hated the structure and discipline, the way that families were carted in and given a 20 minute slot, shipped out, and called back a week later for a hard sell. (I did the selling too). I hated that every set of photographs looked exactly the same, except for having different faces in them. It was zero percent creativity and a hundred percent regiment. It was the paint-by-numbers of the arts world; the KFC of the restaurant world. I find it sad, that 20 years on, the company is still going strong and has studios all over the UK.

This was, and still is, a low end studio. It’s a company which puts so much pressure on their managers to have a certain amount of sittings a day that they’re forced to trawl the high street and drag people in for an impromptu shoot - shopping bags akimbo, snot on faces, hair windswept, make-up smudged - and then try to make a sale out of it.

For those people who are shocked at some photographer’s prices and claim they can get ‘the same thing down the road for a tenner,’ or ‘a free sitting’ or 'a free 10x8' or whatever bargain they happen to be offering this week or next, now you know why.

They are not photographers.

I worked for two more studios after that - in sales and management, not photography. One was for another high street chain and the other was for an independent photographer. The difference between the first and the third was incredible. Yes the photographs were more expensive, but with hour long shoots as a minimum, serious planning, extensive post processing work and perhaps more importantly, each family being treated as individuals and not a bunch of faces on a conveyor belt, it’s hardly surprising. And of course there was also the technical skill - this photographer's camera and equipment were like an extension of his body.

To sum it up, you really do get what you pay for.

My name is Elaine, I worked in a studio for 6 years, and I am not a photographer.
(But one day I really hope to be one.)

[Jim Poor]

Well said.

[nickbedford]

Wow, well good luck with the... photography

We all know how subjective the terms "photographer" and "professional photographer" are, though by definition most of us on this forum are photographers, pro or not.

[pittbug]

Interesting insight, your post title could be renamed to photoleaks ;-) A couple of years ago I went to a similar studio to get some shots done of the kids and although they came out ok, they weren't anything special. It was obvious that the girl behind the camera was just pressing the button, then afterwards was the hard sell as you described. I wasn't all that impressed with the final product, so next time I sought a more boutique type place and although it was more expensive, the end result was much better. They captured one of my favorite pictures of my youngest which is framed and sits on my desk at work.

[Biomech]

I agree. It's all about perception - which is the sole reason I bought a vert grip for my camera, just to make it look bigger.

[sk66]

"Everything on that camera was locked; fixed in position."


Wow, that's even better than the Professional mode on my camera!

[scootermcq]

I really enjoyed your story, TFS.....

[candidrachel]

What a great read! All what was said was what I suspected happened all along that's why all the babies photos look the same in the exact same pose in the exact same basket.

I hate to sound snobby and I apologise in advance if I do but whenever Pixi Photos sets up in Boots its always the single mothers with their brood of kids that want their photos taken with the hidious bright blue background and tacky wicker chair. They queue up for hours and I just smile to myself and think that I can take a much better natural photo of my kids and actually capture their personalities rather than just plonk them down on a fake bale of hay and get them to "smile for the camera".

[RLucas]

Great read! Now I know what High St is. They were talking about it in another thread, and I had no clue.

[Jim Bryant]

I've watched photographers in other studios from Walmart, Kmart, to some of the high end ones work the same way. Same poses...too formal and formalized, no creativity. Well said....