Author Topic: Shot lists? (Read 2585 times)

cdwheatley · « **on:** March 25, 2010, 18:15 »

Just curious as to how other photographers minds work

Do you always use a shotlist?
Do you stick to your shotlist?
What do you do when things aren't going as planned? Do you move on to the next shot, or do you try to make the shot work by looking at it from another angle, or changing something?

Designing a shot in your head, or on paper does not always work when on location, for whatever reason. I started thinking about this while going through today's shoot. Oddly enough, all of my best shots were of variations of my original idea, not planned for.

So, I'm thinking of 2 rules here.
1. Make a shot list
2. Don't be afraid to throw out the shotlist and try not to get frustrated when things don't go as planned, something good might come of it.

Love to hear some opinions on how you approach your photography workday

hqimages · « **Reply #1 on:** March 25, 2010, 18:59 »

If it's a studio shoot with inexperienced models, I'll always sketch out my ideas, and even ideas for poses for the models.. honestly tho, I'd much rather not have to direct him/her to that extent, so if I can throw them in there and they knock out pose after pose great, I'll just shoot away, but it's good to have some ideas sketched down roughly in case they do need more direction, and also in case you have specific results you need out of the shoot, eg. changes of clothes, backdrop, pose, beauty, full-body, styling, lighting. Like I might want to shoot the full body quite dark and dramatic, but do the beauty shots flooded with light and angelic, so I'll sketch out my lighting set up for each one, with some notes for props, make up, clothes, poses for each look..

I don't always stick to the shotlist, but I always check it to make sure I haven't forgotten anything very important.. if things aren't going as planned, take a break, or change something, or take a break while changing something!!

If it's an outdoor shoot, I don't bother with anything like the above, it's a lot more spontaneous, and you're at the mercy of the weather (Ireland

), so you get on location, and just shoot while walking around and getting good spots, one thing you could do is check the location beforehand and just see where you think will be good for each shot, so you might have water in one area, a cool rock close by, a field beyond that again, and that's your three shots, faffing around with bits of paper on location just bothers me, so it's all about the model really and you can still direct her, it's just what looks good on the day, that suits the model, suits the weather (eg. a shot list is fine, but on the day if the sky is white and you wanted moody, you might shoot her against a rock instead or whatever!)

I think your two rules are PERFECT..

Phil · « **Reply #2 on:** March 25, 2010, 20:23 »

ideas sheet, but I need to start with proper shot list.

But it depends on the model a bit too, My eldest daughter I have to work hard to get her to relax and she is way too self conscious and has a tendency to critisice ideas and her images after (I do a lot of images with her anymore, more out of politeness when she wants to).

Whereas my son and some others I work with are keen natural actors (it would be like doing a shoot with Robin Williams). Put them in room, a few props around and start shooting

. Last shoot with him was a quick 10 minutes and I averaged a shot every 5 seconds LOL about half where deleted because I was laughing so hard. I put about 40 shots on though and did actually get 1 of the shots I had planned

. I have a few others like him too, shot lists become irrelevant because their flying too fast, but * they're fun shoots

Graffoto · « **Reply #3 on:** March 26, 2010, 18:28 »

I make a shot list, but I find I usually throw it out about halfway through the shoot.

I am in envy and awe of those that make up detailed lists and can stick to them throught an entire shoot.
I know those types end up with way more saleable images per session than I ever will.

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Author Topic: Shot lists? (Read 2585 times)

cdwheatley

hqimages

Phil

Graffoto

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