The Ultimate Guide To PHOTOSHOOTS: HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN PHOTOSHOOT

Social media game is no joke ladies and gentlemen, we take it so seriously that we all want to up our game in the type of posts we share and the concepts we share. So we spend so much time exploring to find inspiration for the next picture idea, we book photographers who most of the time end up giving us a plain boring background and so we still can't find what we want and you wonder, but that influencer used a plain studio background, how is their picture way better than yours? or worse, you don't even recognize it until someone points it out to you and now you are just heartbroken, given up and want to shut down your account or delete all photos.

Believe us, we get how stressful it can all be. Lucky are those who open accounts just for viewing other accounts and not creating an online presence. So the big question is.... how can we organize/ plan and implement a professional photoshoot and come out of it rocking the theme? Read on to find out...

There is no doubt there wouldn't be a shoot without the photographer even if it is you, you wouldn't have a shoot without a camera. So the first thing you need to get is a photographer/camera.

If you are looking for a photographer, be sure to find someone that compliments your idea of the shoot, not all photographers can take all sorts of pictures so study up and then get your photographer.

I could tell you sometimes it is better to find a theme before anything else because it will help you with putting everything else into place.

Themes help you determine what location you need for example think if you want to make a glamorous shoot, you want to play out this rich lady, the ideal location would be perhaps in a fancy hotel, or a rooftop... get where I am going with this? next, you would know what to wear, what hair and make-up to have on and just like the photographer, it would help you know what type of make-up artist (MUA) you want to work with. If you are on a tight budget and you will be doing it yourself then you have an idea of how your whole look is going to be like and finally, the theme will help you select which photographer and which type of photography you want to have. If you are planning a shoot say for your agency then it would help you select which model will work best in the category.

So in my youtube, I spoke of this point broken down but I will put some items in the same point here, the first thing you need to do is set the date and the time of the shoot.

After you found the photographer you want to work with, clear your schedule and select a date for the shoot and make sure they do the same, it's never a good idea to make the plans short notice, because both of you have to be in the right headspace and mood and planning always has better results

Did you get that?.... now try to think ahead and plan exactly how long you want the shoot to be, if its a total of three hours excluding hair and make up try to stick with that. Unless you know the photographer, you don't want them to get tired of you and not work with you again. Keep it professional.

Prior to timing, if you are planning to do an indoor shoot, make sure you have good lighting and studio equipment, if you are going for an outdoor shoot, you have to make friends with the sun. In my opinion, natural light is the best light you can work with but it's limited. You have to go out early morning or evening when the sun is calm and about to set.

Midday can work in case of urgency and necessity but if you are starting out and have a little to no budget and a small or no team don't go for it because you will be needing an extra set of hands to hold the reflectors and putting everything in place when it starts falling and believe me, your make-up will certainly do just that.

This can be anywhere right?... WRONG! 

Your location plays a big part just as anything else. Whether you are using a phone or doing a professional shoot, always make sure your background is not a destruction. This means, think it out, where are you standing? is your environment clean? does your background make you pop or fade in with it? does your background work with or against your outfit? think it all through because your location is part of the theme.

You are thinking why are people in studios still taking a great picture with just one coloured background? because they think it through... it's a dance, to be honest. Your photographer is responsible but so are you, get to know yourself better, what colours work for you and what don't. Get creative, what theme do you want to pick and where can you go with it.

Imagine making a gothic shoot and shooting in a flower garden... what???!! the best would probably be in an abandoned house or if that is too scary for your taste, you can look for metals so like an old train station would do.

Whether you are a man or woman, you have to think everything through. Don't put the ideology that you do not need make-up because you are a man. You need to know wearing make-up and fixing your hair doesn't change your sexual status nor your gender instead it helps perfecting your look and to edit your final pictures.

Don't grab the first thing peeping out of your closet if you want this shoot to go all the way, you need to go all the way, including getting a make-up artist and hairstylist or self-teaching yourself to do it.

In the end, it all takes practice, it all takes time to perfect the art of photoshoots, while others wonder why even bother? I mean you aren't even getting paid for it. The answer is simple... if it makes you happy that is all you need to know. We have gotten to a point that we no longer keep up with our hobbies and everything has to pay us back but the sooner you learn that life isn't only about paychecks, the sooner you realize there is a whole lot more out there. 

Yes most people guilt shame some influencers for living fake, I honestly am no fan of that either but what if everybody had a strong will and see it really isn't as black and white... photography gives you a chance to be who you are or who you aspire to be... yes being fake is never the option but if it gives me a chance at being a glamour boss babe on a yacht.. why not?

It's all about what you love in the end.

Check out the video on this topic and let us know what you think... leave us your comment and let us know what else you want to read about...

Stacy💕