It’s nearly July already!!
I’m not entirely sure where the past few months have gone but I’m guessing we all feel like that, don’t we?
On the lead up to the launch of the website it felt like we were spending every waking moment spell checking, cropping, resizing…. to get the images ready to launch. Then the 1st of February came and we pressed the “GO LIVE” button on the website and with that we both gave a huge sigh of relief. I am sure if we could have we would have slept for a week. But between us we have a 6, 5, 4, and a 1 year old…..sleep, rest, put your feet up…..What’s that? Nope, life continues….
To be honest working on anything Two For Joy related feels like a rest. I have been feeling rather guilty because I have just wanted to go off, just me and my camera, take some pictures and then lock myself away in the “stable” (our office) and concentrate on our new baby…. Two For Joy Photography.
Getting the work life balance must be one of the hardest things to do, especially when the work bit doesn’t actually feel like work, it’s hard to explain but it doesn’t. I feel lucky to be able to capture moments of people’s lives that will never ever happen again… that’s it, whoosh, gone…. But don’t worry….I GOT IT…. you can look at that moment again and again. FOREVER.
So this is how a bit of the “work” bit goes….
Meet with the client and organise a shoot day and how many shots they would like.
Before the shoot, visit the location, decide on good back drops (this is called a recce), check the weather if not in the studio or inside. Check and prepare all equipment, cameras, computers, lighting, tripods, etc…
Shoot day (take children to designated learning/play places) : Load the car, arrive at the location, meet the client/models, have another chat about the shot list and our ideas for backdrops, check the light and figure out where the sun will be on each shot, to do this you need to have a rough idea of how long each shot will take. This is usually happening while the models are getting their hair and make up done.
Begin shooting working through the shot list, downloading the images as we are going and check the client is happy with the images.
Lunch time everything gets backed up onto a hard drive. And WE EAT- we love to eat!
The shoot continues, often being dictated by the weather. Shots that we were hoping to do outside may have to be done in a more sheltered area if the weather turns horrid or it is too windy…. The key is to have an adaptable plan!
It works in a similar way when we are doing a portrait shoot, but we will ask the questions and get the feel of the family so we can come up with ideas of backgrounds that represent the family before the shoot. This means on the day they can relax and enjoy being photographed! Sometimes, the best way is for us to hang out with the family while they are doing something they do everyday like walk the dog or hiking up their favourite hill.
Back at HQ all the images get backed up and then we do a 1st edit (this means look through the images and select the ones we like) ….have a glass of wine and go to bed!
Over the next few days we do our 2nd & 3rd edits. I will do one and Nikki does another, then we compare our favourites.
One of us will then process the images from RAW files into Jpegs (or Tiffs). Processing is the bit where you add contrast and tweak the colour or do any photoshopping that needs doing.
Then we copy everything onto a pen drive or upload and send it to the client….Hoooray!
