When Tracy goes shooting
There’s more to getting ready for a shoot than just grabbing my camera and running out the door. I also take into consideration what I should wear, not in the sense of being oh-so-fashionable even behind the camera, but in different ways.
Like picking shoes. I’d never wear my girly high-heeled shoes, obviously, and I would rather not wear flip flops when shooting, either. My go-to shoes are either my Doc Martens or my trademark Converse Chuck Taylors, simply because they’re the most comfortable on my feet. For days when it looks like it’s going to rain, I opt for my boots so I can easily walk through puddles. Both are also easy to take off when I need to. Yes, I sometimes take my shoes off. Like when I stand on (cushioned) chairs because I’m a small girl.
And because I stand on things that quite often come into contact with other human beings, I wear clean socks for hygienic purposes.
I also tend to wear jeans more often when I go shoot, because it just feels a little more professional. This is the case most especially when Tender Blender goes to shoot at Unilever, where everyone is in office-appropriate attire. On more laid back and/or outdoor shoots, however, I sometimes go for shorts when the weather is insanely warm.
I try to pick shirts with a neckline that isn’t too low, because I want to avoid having people see down my shirt. I have a tendency to do whatever I can to get that perfect angle, even lie on the ground to the point that it looks ridiculous.
When we shoot food, I dig up my white shirts! Some people may think it odd for me to be very particular about this, but the color of my clothes often get reflected onto the parts of the dish that show…reflections. The colors also sometimes affect the color of the photo, especially when using flash (I don’t use flash anymore though, so that’s minus one problem). If I’m out of white shirts, I opt for black. It pays to have invested in a black and white closet all these years, hooha!
Of course, how I dress for shoots is subject to the kind of shoot I’m doing. I was commissioned to document a christening once, so I dressed accordingly to show respect for the ceremony. Another event I shot was western themed, so my client said everyone was asked to come in plaid, and so I followed suit (pun intended). I may just have been the photographer and not a guest, but it’s a big deal to have on an appropriate attire. (:
When I’m done dressing up, there are four things that I immediately look for and put on, or push into my pockets — my watch, my glasses, my phone, and my iPod. I prefer to wear my Hello Kitty yellow orange glasses when I shoot, because my big round black ones often make it a little hard for me to look through the view finder.
At this point, I’m ready to grab my camera bag and go.
I thought about it this morning, and I can actually NOT use my camera bag, given the immensely small amount of equipment I have. Especially now that my old 400D kit lens is somewhat out of commission and I have only one lens to work with, I actually bring very few things with me.
But then again, I think I’d still prefer to have it with me. It just makes me feel a little more professional, plus the great convenience of having compartments in it. I mean, I could stick my camera, extra battery, lens pen, and battery charger into my bag, but it’s just easier to have specific spaces for all these things rather than fumbling around my huge bag for something. Plus I could simply fit my wallet into my camera bag instead, haha.
* * *
At the shoot (especially with Tender Blender), there will be moments when you have a little time to be silly. It’s important to have fun!
Just a disclaimer, this is not a sponsored post! Hahahaha.
We had a shoot today at Unilever, and they had a wall lined with boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts! Because they love us so, they gave us a box which we shared with the Unilever interns whom we’ve become friends with. Being our silly little selves, we switched on our studio light and…well obviously we had a little fun.
…perhaps a little too much fun.
Again, not a sponsored post! We’re just really big fans of Yummy magazine. (:
* * *
Pretty random post, but mostly I just wanted to share those silly pictures of us. It’s downright impossible to have a 100% serious shoot with these guys.
