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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Doing Your Homework Before Assignments.
Nic Coury, Photographer
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Monterey | CA | | Posted: 8:37 PM on 04.14.10 |
->> I'm curious what kind of homework other shooters do before assignments they're unfamiliar with.
If it's a sport I've not shot before, I've found I'll usually look up work from other photogs to check out angles, etc. and read up on notable players and how they perform.
If it's a feature or portrait, I'll look up the subject and try to find out some of their personality prior to shooting in order to make a more "intimate" portrait that really shows them off for who they are. |
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Daniel Berman, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Seattle | WA | US | Posted: 9:01 PM on 04.14.10 |
->> Cool topic Nic.
If it is a location I have never been to I see if it has a website. This can sometimes have itineraries for the event, cool upcoming events I might not know about at all, and most importantly, it can give me an idea of the rules.
I had a portrait shoot with a college golfer and he wanted to meet at the country club where the team practices. I checked the website beforehand, which gave me ideas for shoot locations, and also informed me that there was a dress code! Had I shown up in jeans and tennis shoes I would have been turned away. A little homework had me dressed in business clothes and fitting right in.
As for first times covering sports, as was the case with lacrosse this Sunday, I always check out work on google and in the sportsshooter archives.
Daniel |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 9:22 PM on 04.14.10 |
| ->> Watching it on TV helps some too, though it's harder with smaller sports. |
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Jonathan Castner, Photographer
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Denver | CO | USA | Posted: 9:35 PM on 04.14.10 |
->> I do as much research as I can. I almost don't shoot sports anymore so it's reportage or portraits. I'll read whatever I can so that I know what is happening, the background of the story and any details that might make the photos more coherent.
If the assignment is a portrait I will first find what the person looks like and how tall they are. If learned this one when I had to do business portraits of two guys in the same month who used to be college basketball players and the shortest was 6 foot 9 where I am 5 foot 10. Note to self: bring a step stool. I will try and talk to the person's assistant or PR person to get a feel for their personality. I'll try and take a peek at their office to get clues as to what they are into. Few things warms up an executive who has had a rough morning like getting him talking about his boat.
If the location is outside I will Google Earth the site to see what is around in case I need to take it over there instead. I'll check weather patterns for two days prior to see if the morning/evening light will be good.
Blah, blah, blah. |
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Nick Morris, Photographer
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San Diego | CA | USA | Posted: 2:10 AM on 04.29.10 |
| ->> I recently had an issue where I was asked to do some portraits of a few San Diego Padres and I wanted to do something way outside of my box so I asked a few members on here for advise and they all said the same thing... look at others work and see what they did. Not to copy it but just get inspiration and ideas. I also checked out the players bios and read up on them to find out what they were like personally. One thing I always do is my HOMEWORK. Before every shoot and assignment I do as much homework as time permits. Sometimes that could be as little as a quick search on my iPhone or as much as weeks of in depth research with notes and references. Nothing sucks more than going into a shoot unprepared and with no plan A or worst no plan B. I cover a lot of spot news and there isn't time for research or to get really prepared and I honestly think it helps me because of the hi speed nature of covering spot news. When you can get to a point where your reacting to evolving high speed shoots the way spot news does and coming away with consistently good work then when things slow down you're at a major advantage because everything seems to be in slow motion. I shoot MLB and my homework there is obviously stay current with the players roster but I always go to the games EARLY... and not for the fine cuisine and chit chat. I go to watch the players warm up. You can tell a lot by batting practice and warmups who's head is in the game and who's maybe not all there. That has paid off for me many times. Doing your homework can mean many different things in this business from preparing your gear the night before to googling the address and researching your subject. What ever it is don't take the shortcut and wind up half ass. Do your homework like Miss Crabtree used to tell you in school. It Pays off every time |
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