Communicate your expectations
When it comes to your time in front of the camera…
…make your expectations clear with your photographer beforehand.
One of the worst things you can do to blow your investment in new photos is to go into the session flying blind.
On many occasions, I’ve heard stories from speaker colleagues where they simply assumed the photographer knew what they needed, zipped through the discovery call without any nitty gritty conversation, and guess what?
They ended up getting short-changed on the deal, because they needed to spend money on a second session to plug up the holes left by the first photographer.
Who needs that in their life?
Why not get it right the first time around, right?
As a result, it’s important you clearly set your intentions for what you want out of the season, whether it’s portraits, virtual events, stage photos or an in-person training.
Lay out for your photographer what you specifically want the moment you first engage them on the phone or through Zoom.
Be open about hangups about your appearance and listen to how the photographer will either work around the problem, or how they plan to talk you off the ledge because what bothers you is of no consequence to the success of the photos.
Also, talk about your specific, short and mid-term visual asset needs for your website, online content, printed materials, presentation slides, and other marketing and promotional materials.
From there, allow your photographer a chance to talk about how they plan to solve these problems within the parameters of the session timeframe and the location you intend to shoot.
The key to cementing the game plan to meet your expectation level going into a photo session of any type is that you lock in the details during the call beforehand, not during the session itself.
On several occasions, I’ve had clients contact me post-strategy call in the days leading up to the session to hash out another idea that occurred to them as they reviewed the shot sheet we created together.
That’s cool.
I invite you to extend that type of effort as it will ensure the creation of a comprehensive image portfolio.
Taking a proactive, rather than reactive, approach will lead to a more fulfilling and valuable experience for you while in front of the camera.
It’ll also prevent you from getting pissed off at not capturing a series of photos you forgot to bring up during the strategy call.
It will also prevent your marketing team from pulling their hair out, trying to edit your photos in a way that kinda sorta works for what you need.
Nip it in the bud from the beginning and you’ll create an opportunity to exceed your wildest expectations.
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