Especially in fashion and beauty photography it’s often about getting the absolutely perfect photograph.
Of course this is not as easy done as said, for example because:
- the concept of the picture involves motion, hence a lot of attempts are needed till everything’s perfect
- or the model is (however the reason) kind of asleep at the switch or you simply got the feeling she’s not quite putting her heart into it.
- Maybe the shoot / job already took a long time but you’ve still got important images to take.
These are the cases where you could use a very simple, but often very effective, trick to raise the decreasing concentration of the model (or the whole team):
The „Frame-Countdown“.
Works as easy as this: Put the camera aside, gather the team and tell them insistently your still lacking the perfect picture. You should tell them what part is still missing, of course.
Announce that you’re taking exactly another 5 (10/20) frames. Call for full concentration.
Especially at the last frames you should count loud and clear and call for concentration another time (if you still not got the right picture).
Of course this doesn’t work absolutely all the time, but it’s amazing how often Iwas successful. *g* Both pictures in this article were made in such a frame-countdown (and both were the exactly LAST photograph)!
You can use this trick at the end of a shoot, before a break, the next dress or set, if you got the feeling an extra boost of concentration could be helpful.
Write me a comment: Have you already experience with this „trick“?