The Beyonce photo shoot: 19 tips for a celebrity-worthy photo session

 

Your photo shoot is as important to us as it is to you. You have been waiting to take that perfect portrait; we cannot wait to make you shine! Since a photo shoot is an event involving many partners, each person’s individual expectations, knowledge of photography processes, modeling, and artistic tastes may vary.

That’s where the presence of an art director makes all the difference. The purpose of the art director is to coordinate all parties to achieve a coherent, aesthetic vision during the photo session. Without an art director, this daunting task would fall whole on the shoulders of the already busy photographer.

Many years of practice of professional photography has taught me that planning ahead and preparing team members help a photo shoot run smoothly. To help you create a photo shoot worthy of a celebrity, here are 19 tips organized by partner. Follow them and you’ll be on your way to the smooth, efficient, superstar photo shoot you envisioned.

 

Tips for the photographers

1. Shooting outdoors? When shooting outdoors, keep a vigilant eye on the weather forecast. It is better to postpone than to cancel. If cancelling is not an option, make sure you have a solid backup plan indoors.
2. Power on! Check all batteries, memory cards, and cable connections prior to the shoot. This is also true for any spare equipment you can afford to bring along.
3. Back up Camera: Just in case, it’s good to be prepared with a second camera body that is compatible with your main equipment. Personally, I always take a basic film camera that supports my camera lenses, a couple of black & white films, and a color slide film.
4. Polarizing filters: Polarizing filters are expensive, but they are really useful when you need to kill some annoying reflection (see below my comment about shiny clothes).
5. As in anything, experience makes perfect: Know your photo equipment prior to the shoot. If you just acquired a new item, make sure to become familiar with it before the session.
6. Mood boards: Take your mood boards and sketches with you. If that is not practical, take a digital photo of your works; you can always show them to your partners on your LCD screen, and you will be able to zoom in and out to see details.
7. Musical background: Prepare a playlist for musical background. Whenever possible, compose the playlist to your model’s taste; music goes a long way in making models comfortable. Our subject is the one who needs to be most relaxed.
8. Be comfy: Wear comfortable clothes you don’t mind to get dirty. I cannot count how many times I ended up on the ground to catch a low angle!

Tips about the models

1. Model release: Be sure you work with a model release, and have it ready to sign on location, preferably prior to the photo shoot. At this point, all negotiations should already have taken place: transport costs, catering, model’s rate or Time for options (time for print, time for CD), etc. If the model is minor of age, have a legal guardian ready to sign the contract.
2. Take doubles: Take more than one model release. If you have additional ideas that are totally different in purpose than those first envisioned, it doesn’t hurt to sign a second release for those.
3. Clothing: Determine who chooses and who brings the clothes used in the photo shoot. If the model doubles as your client, it is preferable to advise on clothing choices. Patterns on clothes can charge a model too much, while glitter and shine are best dealt with care, particularly when combined with flashes.
4. Experience: The photographer should inquire about the model’s level of experience. Models should be offered resources to read, such as these guidelines.
5. Models measurements: Double-check on your model’s measurements. Outdated measurements could ruin the fitting, so make sure you have yesterday’s check. Remember, clothing options and even lens choices depend on this information.
6. Respect of privacy: If your session involves partial or total nudity, have a bathrobe available to ensure the model’s privacy between shots and during breaks. Also, make sure underwear is removed at least 20 minutes prior to shooting to avoid leaving marks on their skin.
7. Beauty sleep: Casually ask your model to have a good night sleep on the evening of the shoot. Everyone looks best when well rested.

Tips for the make-up artist

1. Plan ahead: Discuss the make-up and hair styling options. See how these match or contrast with the clothing.
2. Beware of self-care: If the model comes to the shoot with make-up already applied, make sure you double check it, or simply remove and begin your work. I feel that nail polish could always look better, especially if it is not freshly applied. So ideally, get the model’s nails done right before the session. Working on these details later in the post-processing is a big waste of time that can be easily avoided with careful verification.
3. Tenderize your model: Just kidding… Just ask your make-up artist to chat up your model. Together with the background music, this will help relax your model and break the ice, making for a more fun and relaxed photo shoot later.
4. Work duration: If your make-up artist will not be present for the whole session, make sure she is at least available for longer than the preparation, in case there are corrections to carry.

Summary

I hope you found these photo shoot tips useful. Following these suggestions will make the best of your photo session, making sure all team members work together. When your model feels like a celebrity, and photographers work efficiently, you have a photo shoot worthy of a superstar!

If you have any additional tips than those I gathered, please feel free to drop me a line, and I shall review all your suggestions and update the checklist.