You’ve probably heard me say it before, but I come from the days of film.
Film had 24 or 36 exposures on a roll. Cameras did not have an LCD. There was no peeking to see if the image looked right.
So, as a photographer, I had to make sure my metering was spot on (pun intended) and every shot mattered. Naturally I took my time to make sure I didn’t waste any frames because if a client paid for 3 rolls, they got exactly 108 clicks of the shutter.
Uh huh, let that sink in for a second.
If my client was a perpetual blinker (you know those people right?) I had to be really really intentional to make sure I didn’t get too many blinks.
I still remember the one blinker who complained that I did a terrible job because a lot of the frames had captured his eyes closed. Sooo unappreciative right?
Now we all have the luxury of digital and don’t have to deal with trying to please the blinker. We get to delete all the blinks and mishaps and look like total geniuses when we turn over our web-galleries.
But here’s the thing, one mistake I see photographers make over and over again is OVERSHOOTING.
Even my very own associate, after years of drilling into his head to shoot less, still struggles with it.
Overshooting creates more work both during and after a shoot.
If you’re overshooting, you’re spending way too much time shooting and you’re spending even more time editing hundreds or thousands of images.
This brings down your hourly rate leaving you with less profit and more work.
If you’re overshooting, it’s most likely because you’re overcompensating for something.
Maybe it’s uncertainty over lighting, insecurity over your poses or self-doubt over whether or not you got the shot.
The key is to spend most of your time setting up the shot, making sure your lighting is on point, and posing your subject before starting to shoot. This way you’re 100% certain and confident the images are going to look amazing.
Once you do this, it only takes a few clicks to get the shot. And I promise, taking the extra time to setup is way faster than overshooting and editing into the wee hours of the night.
These days a four outfit shoot in my studio takes me an average of 1.5 hours of shoot time and an easy 45 minutes of editing time. THAT’S IT.
I shoot so little and edit so efficiently (check out my tutorial) that when I shoot doubles (two clients back to back), I’m editing my first shoot during my lunch break and done editing by the time my second client is out of the makeup chair.
Pretend, like I do, that you’re shooting film.
Aim to shoot a maximum of 60-70 images per outfit or setup. Then aim to edit down to the best 36-46 MAX to turnover to your client.
This way, you can bring down the time you spend inediting, increase your hourly rate and also prevent your client from feeling overwhelmed by an excessive number of shots.
Because the overwhelmed buyer does not buy. Making it easy for your clients to identify their favorites, increases the chances of them ordering retouches.
Want to learn how I edit efficiently? Download my free half hour Lightroom Tutorial for photographers.
0 Comments