master report J
The Nikon stand was busy with telephoto testers – especially so, given the absence of Canon.
oe Buissink delivered a week’s series of seminars with MPA and Graphistudio round the country in March. With a good turn-out for all events, audiences enjoyed an in- teractive session with Joe, who welcomes questions from the floor throughout his delivery. Here are some of Joe’s snippets of wisdom – very sound bits from his talk in Scotland. First, he does not have a business card – “What I do is shoot, and establish a relation- ship with my clients. If people ask for a card, I tell them to ask the couple – or look for my name on line. If they want me, they will find me.”
Joe on Client Contact
Artsy Couture is a name to watch – probably the most important new arrival for social photography products since Graphistudio.
I have contact with every couple four times before the wedding – four points of contact: 1: The Pitch – My studio is like a giant living room in the loft, his house is on the beach. There are candles, fruit, music, scones... they look at 20 x 16s, I tells the story of each picture. I make it an experience for the senses – auditory, olfactory, taste, touch, visual.
2: The Engagement Session – I get to know them, they get to know me.
3: Collecting Prints – from engagement session 4: Final Pre-Wedding Meet-
Westcott light shapers and studio accessories, including the new fab- ric background shown here, are coming to the UK through JP Distribu- tion. They have some great products at good prices.
ing – this is when I firm up the timeline for the wedding date, and finalise the contract along with many notes recorded. I carry the contract with me at the wedding, and add comments to all the notes if needed. If a requested photo can not be taken, I then have a record of the reasons for this.
The Flash Centre had Bjorn Thomassen and his models to keep the attention of Focus’s itinerant backpackers.
MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY 8
It may be weeks or months later that the bride complains of something agreed at the pre-wedding meeting, which we did not manage to get for the album. I will have a note saying exactly why we could not get the shot. They may have forgot- ten, but I will have my notes. It’s really vital to do this.
Joe on Flash
I’m an available-light shooter – and every once in a while, my flash is available. But I never use it direct, I never bounce it off a ceiling, or use a white card. I look for a surface, a light surface; I’ll pick which places the reflected light to aim back to the direction the subject’s nose is aiming. I will for ex- ample aim the flash at a white column in a church.
Flash can wipe out the ambi- ance they have created for the wedding, and spent thousands of dollars on – candles, lighting. If they have spent this money, make sure your photographs show it.
Joe on the Moment
Try to capture the moment BETWEEN moments. There is no such things as a perfect image, only a perfect moment.
Joe on Second Shooters
“Do what you do best and delegate the rest” - now I have made someone else the primary shooter! They do the formals. I realised what I was doing, when I was spending my time setting up groups, and the second shooter would be getting the candids. But that’s what Joe does best!
So, I pick well-educated photographers, who know how to use lighting, do poses, set up groups. My second shooter becomes ‘the real photographer’ and I can delegate them to the bride’s mum, while I skulk around in the background get- ting a ton of stuff because I am not interrupted by the perfunc- tory images required by mum! I use four or five different freelances, who get $1,200 for the wedding and hand over the
photography
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