My First Shoot - How to prepare?!

chopsky

Hey guys,

I want to do my first fashion-type shoot within the next week. I've found a model who is prepared to work for free, so long as I supply him with the prints afterwards. No sweat.

For those of you that do these types of shoots regularly, how do you prepare for one? What is your usual plan of action before and during the shoot?
I have spoken to a friend who lives overseas who does shoots of this sort quite regularly. He suggested renting out a powerpack,, a lightmeter, a softbox and a strobe for the day, and playing around with it all a few hours before shooting time. He said I could call him and he'd walk me through using the stuff.

I need advice regarding lighting, how you go about finding the perfect location, wardrobe etc.

The equipment I'll be using can seen in my signature.

Please, any advice would really help :-/

I've never had the opportunity of assisting a photographer on a shoot before, but yeh, I'm choosing to jump into the deep end none the less.
Good thing is the model is a very patient guy and understands my situation. He is prepared to go with the flow.

ziggy53

chopsky wrote:

...
I have spoken to a friend who lives overseas who does shoots of this sort quite regularly. He suggested renting out a powerpack,, a lightmeter, a softbox and a strobe for the day, and playing around with it all a few hours before shooting time. He said I could call him and he'd walk me through using the stuff.

....

Everything your friend said is good, but plan on a lot more time with the lights. I don't think a single studio strobe is going to be enough for most fashion style photography.

What is it you wish to accomplish? Do you have any particular style in mind? How have you told your model to dress?

Location is something you should have determined previously. It's possible to photograph models anywhere, and our DGrinner "elfving73" has found some amazing locations:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=22868
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=46104
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=47051
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=37106
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=47079

Shay Stephens

I do a lot with a single light, however if this is your first shoot and you have not used lights before, you will most likely waste your time and the models time. Lighting takes time and experience to be useful and not just get in the way.

My advice for this shoot would be to just shoot it ambiently. Then after the shoot is over, in your free time, spend time with a light until you feel comfortable shooting a model with one.

For now, do what you know how to do the best. Try to get the best shots you can with what you have and know how to use with your eyes closed (so to speak).

When you are done and evaluating the photos, try to spot where the flaws in the technique are. If you need light, where do you need it, how much, what kind? Do you have too much light? Where do you need to limit it? Ask all these questions with everything and then you will have a better idea of what equipment you need. Equipment is there to solve problems, so find the problems first, then you will know what you may need to fix them.

The more of this you can do before the shoot, the better