Some professional photographers feel that shooting for free is just silly but more and more creative photographers feel, as I do, that in order to keep the creative juices flowing you need to take some time and just shoot something for yourself.
Creative Personal Shoots can help inspire and focus creativity as well as lend itself to helping promote your work so it might be seen by some who might not have seen it otherwise. Recently I asked a good friend (who happens to be a damn fine photographer in his own right) to sit for me for a creative shoot of my own.
Lee, as you can see has a very distinctive look about himself and I had a couple of looks I wanted to try and he was willing.
I wanted to keep this shoot moody and darkish and utilize the techniques I have been learning over the past few years from the likes of Wayne Simpson and Dave Brosha.
Lighting set up was simple …one Strobepro X600II strobe modified with a Strobepro 25" Rapid PRO Deep Beauty Dish. The backlight was a Strobepro X200 with a barn door kit with various gels.
Shooting for yourself can be very liberating. The pressure of client based demands and timelines disappear when you are just shooting for you. Since Lee and I are friends it made the session even easier because Lee is also a photographer.
Simple one light set up directly over Lee.
Being able to fine tune light set ups is obviously easier to do when there are no outside pressures but it allows you to get just that more comfortable for when you are shooting paid clients. I have used personal shoots on many occasions to actually practice for upcoming paid shoots …if you have the time …it pays off with happier clients and more effortless experiences which helps to reduce stress on shoot day… when it really counts. All in all the shoot went off smoothly and both Lee and myself benefitted from the experience.
