Gear is important. It can make or break a shoot, but it's no replacement for a skilled photographer. You can have top-tier photography equipment, and still fail miserably at pleasing your client.
With that said, let's make sure we ask ourselves a very important question before we head out on any shoot (see tip #1 below), and then we'll take a look at a specific class of camera gear that can vastly improve the feel of your photographs, and set the tone in post production.
Tip #1 - Know What You Are Shooting.
You just accepted to do a shoot for a client. What's the first thing you should do after accepting the job? Ask yourself this question: What am I shooting? This one question will help frame your shoot, keep you on target, and make sure you have the right gear in hand come the day of the shoot.
Surely there was discussion with the client regarding locale, purpose (eg. marketing, internal use, billboards, etc.), and a myriad of other requirements that will help inform your shoot from the client's side. But, always step back and ask yourself, "what am I shooting?". This one question has shaped my gear bag contents more than anything else, and it should help shape yours too!
Tip #2 - Clarify, Simplify, Understand.
In the photo accompanying this post, I shot it for Tennessee State Parks at Rocky Fork State Park. Tennessee State Parks wants to showcase the natural beauty found all throughout Tennessee in our state parks with the ultimate goal of having those visitors stay in our parks and infuse tourism dollars in the surrounding areas. That's their ultimate goal. But what about my question: What am I shooting?
I'm glad you asked. Rocky Fork is a beautifully lush park, complete with streams, hiking trails, and natural rock climbing. So, I'm shooting nature, in natural light, ranging from moving water to sunlit bare peaks, to canopied trails.
See how this one question is clarifying already? Now let's move along. I know what I'm shooting, now I need to ask the follow-up question that begging to be answered. Can you guess what it is?!?
Tip #3 - Align Gear to Goals.
I bet you guessed correctly. Now that I know What I'm shooting, I need to know how I'm going to shoot it.
Remember, I'm shooting nature with ever-changing light, and varied environments including running water. So, letting that guide me, I now know what I will need to make this shoot as successful as possible. So here's the gear that was brought:
Water tolerant tripod (I figured I'd be getting wet)
Circular Polarizer Filter (to help remove glare on the water)
ND Filters ( to help expose for longer periods of time for smooth water)
Waterproof boots/shoes
Camera bodies that can handle low-light noise well
Wide angle lens (15-24mm 2.8f)
Telephoto lens (70-200mm 2.8f)
24-70mm 2.8f lens just to cover the range in between
Drone (+ batteries, and ND filters for the Mountain side) ***Please note, flying drones in TN State Parks is against park regulation without proper authorization.***
Bug spray :)
I always make sure my batteries are charged, CF Express cards in ready to go, and my travel bag has lens cleaners and other items I may need in a pinch. Now, I should be ready for the shoot. See, one simple question has already paid dividends for us!
Tip #4 - Scouting, & Setup
While I could walk through the entirety of that day's shoot, I'll focus on the photo above for our talking points.
So thankfully, this stretch of stream was right off the main entrance road to the park. This meant I didn't have to lug my gear downstream to find a suitable place to set up for a shoot. (it's also helpful when the park manager gives you some guidance on spots that have potential)
Here's what I did. I parked along the edge of the road, locked my vehicle (you can never be too safe these days), and went to scout out the area. I didn't have to go too far before finding this view. Once I saw it from an angle, I knew I could make it out into the stream and get a nice shot as the sun was setting, which should make for some interesting light if I had my directions right.
I headed back to vehicle and selected my camera body (Canon EOS r5), my lens (I went with the 15-24mm), attached it to my tripod, added on the circular polarizer and left the ND filters behind as they weren't going to be needed to get the effect I wanted. I then checked to make sure the lens and filter looked clean one last time before planting my tripod in the stream to start framing out this shot.
Tip #5 - The Shot
Now that I have the scene framed in a way that is aesthetically pleasing (low to the water and at 16mm), I wait. I wait for the light to soften upstream as the creek is already saturated with earth tones. So as I wait I make sure the polarizer is set just right for clarity on the slowest moving part of the stream closest to me, I then adjust my aperture to 7.1. This keeps things just sharp enough, but also allows for a bit of "glow" further back in the image. This will help the ambiance when the sunlight is just right. Then I adjust for ISO. I don't want grainy. I want smooth. I want flowing, I want the settings to compliment the aesthetic we're going for, not be a hurdle in the way of it. I set ISO to 800 and the last thing I adjust is the shutter speed. I need the shutter to stay open long enough to allow the water to look flowing, but not so long as all the water is white-washed. I also need to take into account the intensity of the sunlight so as to not overexpose the top of the image or underexpose the bottom of the image. I settle on leaving the shutter open for 8 seconds (had I of shot this just 10 minutes earlier, the lighting would have been too dynamic and would have ruined the mood of the shot). Once those 8 seconds conclude, the RAW version of this photo was on my screen and I knew I had what I needed to provide a quality photo to Tennessee State Parks.
One Question To Rule Them All
Do you see how one simple question directs the flow of a shoot from start to finish? It's amazing how four words can keep you on point and help you be successful in whatever shoot happens to come your way. Take it to heart, use it. That's a freebie on me!
What about post production you say? That's for another time :)
Seriously though, if you would like a walk through of post work or any other topics covered regarding photography, leave a comment down below and we'll see what articles come out of it. Thanks for taking the time to read, and be sure to subscribe to our blog!
Comments