Natural Light Photo Shoot

[Manfred M]

Twelve of us did a natural light photo shoot at or near the National Gallery of Canada this afternoon. There were three models, so the ratio of photographers to models was quite low.

Just to discredit the perception that people who model are not particularly bright, Jennifer is a teacher and Melissa has just completed her second year of medical school (I did not ask Pauline what she does).


1. Pauline





2. Jennifer






3. Melissa

[Donald]

I've never photographed anything in the company of other photographers (apart from when I was in Yosemite, but I wasn't 'with' them). Fascinated to know how it works: Is there a pecking order gets established? What if one tries to dominate the session? Or is it all very ordered?

[Manfred M]

It depends a bit on the shoot and there is occasionally someone along who does not play nicely with the others (I think that has happened once in about 20 shoots), but people like that tend to not get invited back. That is the advantage of being with a group of competent photographers who just want to shoot and don't want people along that don't work well with the group.

Normally we just rotate taking turns or suggesting locations or tweaking poses. Depending on the shoot, we usually have a rule where there is only one camera pointing at the model at a time and when we are done with the sequence, we step back and let someone else shoot. There are exceptions; the light painting ones (Light Painting with Cristiana - Part 2) had five of us shooting all at the same time. We picked a position and set up our tripods and worked from there. Each shot takes a long time to set up and complete, so this is really the only practical way to hold a multi-person shot for something like this. Projection photography works much the same way.

I've also been at shoots where we shoot in timed segments; 3 or 4 minutes, for instance, with a particular pose and then it's the next person's turn.

On the other hand, shoots like the "Spring Fling" (Spring Fling 2018 - Britannia Beach) this past Saturday is little more than organized mayhem. As this was a free shoot (time for images) a lot of inexperienced shooters with little or no shooting etiquette (towards the models and the other shooters) were there. I tend to try to avoid these events, but this one was close to home and gave me a chance to get Georgette out and shoot some models on manual with a battery-powered studio light. It let her understand that it is possible to get good shots, even in harsh, mid-day sunlight, so long as one has the right equipment and technique.

[Shadowman]

We had an instructor who would always yell "crossing the set" whenever he had to pass in front of a photographer.

[Manfred M]

We had an instructor who would always yell "crossing the set" whenever he had to pass in front of a photographer.

Yes, that is quite common. Any time a photographer can get into / interfere with another person's shot it is good practice to let them know.

We do the same thing in the studio; the shooting area is marked off and is referred to as the "house". Anyone other than the model or the photographer will let the rest of the group know that they are going to enter the "house" and will wait for the model to okay that.

We have a similar practice of only allowing one person to point his or her camera at the model at one time. As soon as the shooter has finished, he or she backs up so that the model and other shooters know that it is the next shooter's turn. Reviewing images and other activities should not be done while in the shooting area. This rule goes for both studio and non-studio work.

[Donald]

This short exchange has been enormously informative and given me the confidence to think about being involved in a shoot. Just knowing the basic rules and how the whole thing works is so good.

[Digital]

Manfred, very nice photographs.


Bruce