I had my first pro session today. Still lots to learn from today’s shoot. It’s always “after the fact” that valuable lessons are learned — trials and errors.
Lessons learned today (note to self):
1. Always move to a variety of locations.
2. Fast prime lenses (f1.8 or faster) work better than fast zooms (can’t get any faster than 2.8 on most zooms).
3. Natural light is the king.
4. Indoors is good. Outdoors is better.
5. Having extra memory cards with me is a good thing.
6. Overexposures are easier (and prettier) to fix than under exposured shots (especially on my Fuji S5).
7. Children want to show off… Let them.
8. Don’t over plan or over think on journalistic style of shooting — just show up and shoot. Everything will fall into place. Instincts will take over.
9. If a client insists his/her house is messy and requires a lot of cleaning up, suggest (and, in fact, insist) on taking the session elsewhere, such as a nice public garden or somewhere outdoors. Cropping and editing will be easier. Invariably, you will also be forced to select scenes more creatively with such open space. DO NOT SETTLE FOR messy indoor sessions. The result will make nobody happy.
