Opinions required. First meaningful shoot.....
Discussion
Brief bit of history, over the past few months I’ve been photographing some of the street art/graffiti around Birmingham (some of which I have posted in the Random photo's thread) and getting to know some of the local artists. I created an alter ego for myself, made a Facebook and started spreading the word. I found the idea of normal people going out at night to put stickers, pastes, tags etc up quite intriguing and thought it would be a fun thing to document.
Anyway long story short, a local freelance writer messaged me last week saying he had seen my pictures, liked the style of them etc and asked if I would take some photos for him. He’s currently working for a local magazine. I made it very, very clear that I take photos for fun, I’m relatively new/inexperienced and I’m certainly not a ‘professional’ level photographer. I advised I would not accept any payment (he initially said we could discuss commission etc but I declined as didn’t feel comfortable accepting any payment as I wasn’t 100% I could deliver) and I would be doing it purely to gain the experience etc. He said that’s fine, he would still like to give me a go and I’m meeting him tomorrow.
The article he is writing is about a small independent store based in Birmingham and needs photographs of the interior, exterior and some of the quirky little details inside (of which there are plenty). The article will realistically only require 2 – 3 photographs to accompany it. I shoot with a 550D and have a Rokinon 8mm, kit lens (18-55mm), 50mm 1.8 and a Nissin Di-622 Speedlight.
So my question to you guys is do you think it wise for me to accept the work? Or should I have declined? I know this is probably a rather vague question but I’m interested in your guy’s opinions on this?
What would you have done in a similar situation? I’m excited about it, just a little apprehensive hence why I’m on here. Any other thoughts?
Thanks.
Anyway long story short, a local freelance writer messaged me last week saying he had seen my pictures, liked the style of them etc and asked if I would take some photos for him. He’s currently working for a local magazine. I made it very, very clear that I take photos for fun, I’m relatively new/inexperienced and I’m certainly not a ‘professional’ level photographer. I advised I would not accept any payment (he initially said we could discuss commission etc but I declined as didn’t feel comfortable accepting any payment as I wasn’t 100% I could deliver) and I would be doing it purely to gain the experience etc. He said that’s fine, he would still like to give me a go and I’m meeting him tomorrow.
The article he is writing is about a small independent store based in Birmingham and needs photographs of the interior, exterior and some of the quirky little details inside (of which there are plenty). The article will realistically only require 2 – 3 photographs to accompany it. I shoot with a 550D and have a Rokinon 8mm, kit lens (18-55mm), 50mm 1.8 and a Nissin Di-622 Speedlight.
So my question to you guys is do you think it wise for me to accept the work? Or should I have declined? I know this is probably a rather vague question but I’m interested in your guy’s opinions on this?
What would you have done in a similar situation? I’m excited about it, just a little apprehensive hence why I’m on here. Any other thoughts?
Thanks.
Edited by Oxygen2k10 on Monday 10th September 23:38
I think you've done the right thing. He already likes your work and you've explained that you're more interested in learning than cash.
Go for it. I'd have done the same.
Worst case is you have a learning day and keep taking photos until he's happy, best case is you gain experience and it leads to more work that you enjoy.
Go for it. I'd have done the same.
Worst case is you have a learning day and keep taking photos until he's happy, best case is you gain experience and it leads to more work that you enjoy.
Cheers for the responses. I was expecting a few ‘Cool story bro’ or ‘Worst bragging thread ever’ etc replies as I realise that this thread may have come across as a little ‘Look at me!!!!’.
The shoot seemed to go okay, I got a good handful of shots that I’m quite happy with which I think will work well in the magazine and I certainly feel I learnt alot. If I’m honest I was bricking it, nerves got to me a little and there’s a good few shots where I seem to have completely forgot about all aspects of composition but hey ho. If I'm honest I'm still feeling really apprehensive about it, what if he doesn't like them? etc but I think that's natural. I've got my fingers crossed they go down well but even if they don't, at least I learnt a thing or two.
I will keep updating on here, I dont think anyone is particularly interested but it gives me an excuse to write things down. Maybe I should just start a blog...
The shoot seemed to go okay, I got a good handful of shots that I’m quite happy with which I think will work well in the magazine and I certainly feel I learnt alot. If I’m honest I was bricking it, nerves got to me a little and there’s a good few shots where I seem to have completely forgot about all aspects of composition but hey ho. If I'm honest I'm still feeling really apprehensive about it, what if he doesn't like them? etc but I think that's natural. I've got my fingers crossed they go down well but even if they don't, at least I learnt a thing or two.
I will keep updating on here, I dont think anyone is particularly interested but it gives me an excuse to write things down. Maybe I should just start a blog...
Simpo Two said:
You offer a full refund - ie £0 
Free stuff has no complaints procedure!
Ha, very good point sir!Free stuff has no complaints procedure!
Kermit power said:
I will be. Sounds fun! 
Cool, cheers mate Good news is in! Both the writer and the shop owner have seen the photos and are both rather pleased.
Woo. Now just got to impress the rest of the folks at the magazine.I will find out where I stand in regards to the photographs (they may well not want them spaffed around the interweb just yet) and if I can upload a few I will do. The quality of photographer on here is ridiculous so I'm very interested in getting some opinions/critique off you lot.
Oxygen2k10 said:
Now just got to impress the rest of the folks at the magazine.
Well done!But, just make sure the magazine don't expect everything else for free! The guy obviously saw something in your shots he liked otherwise he wouldn't have offered to pay for the shoot. Don't belittle your work by doing everything for free!
Kermit power said:
As you can't post up the photos from the shoot until the mag say OK, how about posting a link to some of the photos he saw in the first place to get him interested?
Now that I can do! My two Flickr pages (more so the 'Tonal Ranger' one):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amatravers/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonalranger/
However, this photograph in particular:
Suki10c by Tonal Ranger, on Flickr
Now I appreciate they aren’t necessarily the best photos in the world but someone liked them and I got really lucky.
Happy for any criticism/critique/abuse etc.
Edited by Oxygen2k10 on Tuesday 11th September 11:50
Update!
Magazine is out today and my shots do indeed make an appearance, a small one admittedly but an appearance none the less. They’ve used three of my shots over 2 pages however more should be going on the website when they post the full article (once up I shall post a link). It may not seem like much to some on here but I’m pretty chuffed all things considered.
The guy who runs the store also wanted to use them on his blog which can be seen here: http://www.disorderboutique.com/blog/welcometodiso...
Yes the gay looking guy at the bottom is me! Campy self portrait wearing the t-shirt the guy gave me as a little self promotion (not particularly good self promotion either as looking back it’s not a great shot). In hindsight, some of the shots aren’t anything special but some weren’t too bad so taking it as a learning experience I’m pretty happy.
Since then a good mate of mine bought a T-shirt or two so I asked him if he minding me taking some shots of him. Again these were purely for fun and to get some practise in but the shop owner liked them and asked to use them on his blog.
Sam wearing Disorder Boutique by Alex Matravers, on Flickr
Sam wearing Disorder Boutique by Alex Matravers, on Flickr
Sam wearing Disorder Boutique by Alex Matravers, on Flickr
Sam wearing Disorder Boutique by Alex Matravers, on Flickr
So there you have it. A decisively average dude with a camera got lucky and managed to see a few of his photos in print!
Mods: Hope this doesn’t break any rules re: advertising etc.
Magazine is out today and my shots do indeed make an appearance, a small one admittedly but an appearance none the less. They’ve used three of my shots over 2 pages however more should be going on the website when they post the full article (once up I shall post a link). It may not seem like much to some on here but I’m pretty chuffed all things considered.
The guy who runs the store also wanted to use them on his blog which can be seen here: http://www.disorderboutique.com/blog/welcometodiso...
Yes the gay looking guy at the bottom is me! Campy self portrait wearing the t-shirt the guy gave me as a little self promotion (not particularly good self promotion either as looking back it’s not a great shot). In hindsight, some of the shots aren’t anything special but some weren’t too bad so taking it as a learning experience I’m pretty happy.
Since then a good mate of mine bought a T-shirt or two so I asked him if he minding me taking some shots of him. Again these were purely for fun and to get some practise in but the shop owner liked them and asked to use them on his blog.
Sam wearing Disorder Boutique by Alex Matravers, on Flickr
Sam wearing Disorder Boutique by Alex Matravers, on Flickr
Sam wearing Disorder Boutique by Alex Matravers, on Flickr
Sam wearing Disorder Boutique by Alex Matravers, on Flickr
So there you have it. A decisively average dude with a camera got lucky and managed to see a few of his photos in print!
Mods: Hope this doesn’t break any rules re: advertising etc.
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