What’s the process in a portrait session?
I often get asked one question: What’s the process in a portrait session? Every photographer has their own workflow when it comes to managing portrait sessions with clients. In this blog post, I’ll aim to provide you with the general steps in what is involved and the order in which it happens and I’ll write in the context like it’s your journey.
Pre-shoot
Normally, I’ll discuss via email/phone what you wish to gain from your photos and how I can be of service to you. Next, we’ll decide on locations for photos (I don’t have my own studio but I do have access to rent one). However, with a whitish wall, and my mobile lights, I can make headshots look like a studio on location, at your office or home.
I can also offer some advice, from a practical point of view, such as what to wear, change of clothing etc.
The Shoot
The shoot can take 1-2 hours for a personal 1 to 1 session. I say 2 hours approx but I don’t mind spending a bit of extra time to get a broader range of usable photos (no extra charge*). Everyone is different and I try to gauge how the client is feeling through the whole process. Sometimes we get what we want in less than 2 hours, other times we both feel we can add some more to the selection. It’s usually better to be safe than sorry, so I err on the side of caution by taking as many photos as possible.
I have various locations I use locally to shoot portraits. Remember, you’ll be the main subject and the background mostly blurry and to compliment you. I’m flexible about where we can shoot. However, Dublin city centre and surrounding areas offer pretty much the full spectrum of outdoor needs. Also, we can find discreet places with fewer distractions of others walking past. I can accommodate some Sunday mornings for example when there’s little or no people about.
Post Processing
Once the photos are done, I’ll cull the ones that absolutely can’t be used. These are photos where you might be blinking. Or, there’s a major technical flaw on my side such as flash not triggering, or light reflecting in an uncomplimentary way. The remaining images will be uploaded privately. I’ll give you a link and a password to access the photos. You’ll make a list of 15 images for me to edit. After I receive the list, I expect a one week turnaround time. It could be 3 days but I ask for a week.
I know you’ll be keen to have the photos as quickly as possible. For this reason, I do try to send one or two of my personal choices, edited for you on the day of the shoot. Now, they don’t come out of your choice of 15 images. Think of them as bonus images that you can use.
All images will be presented to you via online methods in large, hi-resolution as well as small, resized and optimized for the web. The latter you’ll use for online. But if you want large prints in future, you can use the large images.
I’ll use editing software to make standard, and realistic adjustments: contrast, colour-correction, tonal balance, brighten teeth, sharpen eyes. If you have special requests, I can do that too. Some clients might ask me to remove scars or marks. That’s no problem.
Payment
Payment of 50% of the fee on the day of the shoot, and the remaining paid on receipt of the final images.