Over-preparation leads to experimentation
During your photo session, over-prepare to experiment
The improvised photos could lead to magical opportunities
I’m a big fan of strategy.
It’s a big part of all the work I do with my speaker, author, trainer, consultant and other expert business clients. It helps create a comprehensive and well-rounded shot sheet that will produce the types of images these folks need to support their marketing and promotional goals.
But, that’s not the only reason why strategy is so valuable to the success of the session.
It also creates opportunities to explore outside of what’s written on the shot sheet, which can often create magical image content on-the-fly and in-the-moment.
I had a conversation with a speaker colleague the other day, and the topic of our first lifestyle portrait session together came up.
She reminded me of a series of photos I had taken of her with a specific prop.
The reason why she brought that prop to the session was because during our strategy call, one of the questions I asked was “do you have any objects, props or keepsakes that emotionally resonate with you?”
The prop was a gift given to her by one of her clients, and she really appreciated the gesture and thought it was a cool keepsake.
Now, in the shot sheet, I wrote down, “close-ups of this prop on a stand.”
And that would’ve been just fine.
But, mid-session, I threw out a random “what if” idea to her and suggested that she hold it, instead.
After a couple minutes playing with a variety of hand positions, lighting adjustments, and facial expression changes while holding the prop, we captured a handful of unique photos.
At the time, we thought they simply looked cool and she will eventually find a use for them.
Fortunately, she found a great use :)
During our recent call, she mentioned that one of those images ended up in a speaking/consulting proposal for a company based overseas.
The good news is that out of the pool of 3-4 finalists, she was selected.
The cherry on top?
One of the major reasons she was selected was because that photo visually punctuated the sentiment of her talk, as well as the overall theme for the conference!
And that gig happened to be her highest paying project throughout the pandemic.
Now, had we simply stuck to the shot sheet, that photo would’ve never been taken.
But, had we not strategized to create a detailed shot sheet, that prop would’ve never made its way to the photo session in the first place.
Long story short, over-prepare for your next photo session in order to leave room for experimentation.
You never know what you're going to create photographically that could eventually lead to more prospects, more clients, and more money in your pocket :)
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