Some Info would be much appreciated!

[RookieJR]

Having focused mainly on Street/Night Photography & having not much experience in portrait photography, i have recently been asked to do a shoot for a friends girlfriend, who is starting out in modelling (apparently)! I have decided to give it a shot and said i would do 2 shoots, day & night! I just need some help on how i should structure it all out i,e go and hunt some places before hand and let her choose a theme? and also fashion, from what i wear myself shw will probably know i am no expert, any help with this? If it helps, the weather here in Scotland is sunny and i will be using a Canon 1000D. Any advice would be much appreciated...

[Xposurepro]

Location scouting is a must. You need to scout for background, lighting, best time of day, etc. You don't want to book a session at a location for 3pm and get there to realize the light completely sucks and you should have waited until 6pm for the best images. Tell her to take everything in her closet and shove it in the trunk of her car. It's always better to have way more outfits than you're actually going to shoot to choose from on location. When they show up with 3 outfits and all 3 look stupid .. you're just out of luck. She needs an assortment of casual, sexy, formal, etc. ... a big bag stuffed with shoes .. lots of accessories. It's amazing how many girls will not think to bring all their bracelets, necklaces, ear rings .. also scarfs, hats .. anything that might be a possibility. There's no such thing as season appropriate on a shoot either ... she might have a winter coat that rocks in the summer .... Bring it all.

[RookieJR]

Locations should not be a problem, im thinking either sunrise or sunset! Should i tell her to bring all her make-up, last thing i want is her putting it all on just for it to look stupid in a certain light! Thanks for the info on the clothes department, i will definetly do that! Do you have much advice on Night shoots? Im thinking along the lines of backgrounds such as Graffiti walls at a skatepark etc along those lines...

[Xposurepro]

I never ask anyone to bring makeup but my reasons are 1) I upsell session options with a professional MAC hair & makeup addon 2) I don't want somebody thinking they can jack around for 20 mins with their makeup in the middle of the session and waste a bunch of my time on something my artist could have done in under a minute.

I don't shoot people at night .. I go home and play XBox and relax so Im no help there LOL .. We do use graffiti walls and they are quite popular. We shoot those when the wall and foreground is completely shaded from the sun then we kick diffused light back onto the client for punch .. makes for lots of color and silky smooth skin tones.

[GreggObst]

Originally Posted by Xposurepro

I don't want somebody thinking they can jack around for 20 mins with their makeup in the middle of the session and waste a bunch of my time on something my artist could have done in under a minute.

That's what I would be most worried about too. Does the phrase "I'll only be a minute..." sound familiar ? Yeah. If you don't have the budget in the shoot for a professional MA, a good second choice is the model's mother, older sister or friend who can quickly dive in and apply whatever is needed. Watch out for sweat spots on the forehead and temples developing if it's hot. Instruct someone else at the shoot to keep an eye out for those types of things and bring it to your attention immediately because you will be too wrapped up in shooting and posing.

Have cold drinks and snacks available. You don't want to be breaking to go somewhere to eat if the light is great.

Have location plan A, B, C, and D just in case weather becomes an issue. Use the Photographers Ephemeris (free desktop version) to plan out your shooting locations so you know where the light will be and the shadows will fall at various scheduled times during your shoot. The Photographer's Ephemeris | Plan your shoot

Bring extra batteries for everything !

Have fun, don't act nervous. Your demeanor and your reaction to anything that might go wrong will directly set the tone and the mood you get back from the model.

[autofocus]

As far as night shots go I would suggest two things: a good solid tripod, and a speedlight (preferably used off camera, but that'll set you back a few bucks for that) If on camera flash is used you will want to avoid direct flash whenever possible. Bouncing off a bright wall behind you, or next to you will work very nicely...it will be trial and error on adjusting the flash output, however, so use your histogram and camera LCD as a guide. If you can do this, I'd also recommend blocking any direct flash onto the subject by using a piece of black soft foam attached to your flash..a rubber band or velcro strips can be used to attach it. Remember, it's your shutter speed that controls the amount of ambient light you'll see in the shot, so if you have some street or store lighting available you can augment your flash with some available ambient light by using a slower shutter speed...but be very watchful for camera shake (why the tripod) or subject movement. Hope this helps. By the way, a fast lens will also help if you have one

[ChrisAdval]

Originally Posted by RookieJR

Having focused mainly on Street/Night Photography & having not much experience in portrait photography, i have recently been asked to do a shoot for a friends girlfriend, who is starting out in modelling (apparently)! I have decided to give it a shot and said i would do 2 shoots, day & night! I just need some help on how i should structure it all out i,e go and hunt some places before hand and let her choose a theme? and also fashion, from what i wear myself shw will probably know i am no expert, any help with this? If it helps, the weather here in Scotland is sunny and i will be using a Canon 1000D. Any advice would be much appreciated...

I recommend talking to her and learning each other's likes and dislikes, like favorite type of movies, tv shows, etc.. and come up with a concept of your own that you both would like to do and if you have no budget you both can think of a concept that wouldn't require a ton of work or money.

I shot this in my own backyard...


Ash Amore - "Night" 01 by Chris Adval, on Flickr

And I shot this in a random spot in my town doing my first street shoot, and I didn't plan any of the spots on purpose because I was learning as it was my first street shoot...


Heather Dink - Street 01 by Chris Adval, on Flickr

Keep it simple, at least when starting model photography, when you have more experience and cash you have for more complex concepts in model photography you should be ready for the complex concepts then...