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Stop trying to pose your subjects and direct them

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Posing human subjects that are in front of my camera is something I tend not to really do all that much any more. I used to pose them quite a bit, and constantly tweak to get things just the way I wanted. It’s only when I started photographing animal subjects, that I realised it’s just not worth the effort, even with human subjects. Poses often have a “forced” look to them. They make subjects feel and look uncomfortable, especially if they’re not used to being in front of the camera.

It seems that commercial photographer Derek Heisler is of the same opinion. His solution, is direction. Posing and direction may sound like the same thing, but direction is so much more than just how your subject is posed. In this video, Derek talks about how he works with his subjects to get the most out of them.

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Help! How do I Budget for a Photoshoot? (a guide for clients)

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A frequent and normal question I often get from my first-time direct clients (non-agency) is; “What is your rate?” (I never work on a per hour rate for many reasons) but often the real question should be, “How much will this cost to create this image?”

Surprises are never fun for a client, so education from the get go is key.

So how much does a commercial shoot cost? Well there are many factors to keep in mind, but let’s keep it simple and break the costs into two categories.

  1. Production Costs
  2. Creative Fee + Commercial Licensing Fees

Production costs are easily described as the cost to CREATE the image, where Commercial Licensing Fees are the cost to USE the image.

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