For years, it was just me in my photography business, so I had to learn how to do things with four hands when I only had two. If you are alone and you're trying to figure out how to do all of the things without an assistant, this is for you. I remember starting out and hauling my camera bag and my reflector to the park. I didn't have a studio, so I was photographing everything outside. The challenge was I only had one reflector, and it was big and bulky. It really needed to be held with two hands, kind of a problem when you're holding a camera too.
This is when I thought I would hire an assistant. And then I realized I wasn't making enough money to pay myself, let alone anyone else. I had to figure out how to ask my subjects for help without feeling bad about it, or like I owed them in some way for helping me. I realized if I could make a game out of reflector holding, I could get better images and it wouldn't feel like work for my clients. I had a parent hide behind it and pop out like hide and seek with the kiddo and it worked great.
For my female clients, especially high schoolers, I like to create some wind to fluff their hair so I have the mom take the reflector and fan them. It became really handy early on because as the photographer it’s our job to get beautiful images. It could become a lot of work, but really, part of our job as a photographer is to manage the energy and the emotions during this session because if we can't get what we need, we're not going to have a sale.
I go into every session with a plan of what they're going to purchase, but I've got to make sure that I can get the images. That's a skill that every photographer must learn. And if you're still nervous about holding the reflector, when you think about it, when you're photographing kids or pets, there's going to be an adult at the session anyways. So they can always be there to help.
I don't want you to be afraid to ask your client to help you. It distracts them from any awkwardness in this session, especially if they too are the subject. I don't hesitate to put mom to work while I'm photographing dad, and then vice versa. I hope this helps you because if you're a one man or a one woman photography business, like so many of us are or have been, these tips will help you manage this session.
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