In a recent post I wrote about my upcoming photo shoot with the band Stoer Toeval. Well, last week it finally happened! We met early in the evening at the top of the parking garage in Strijp S in Eindhoven. I was a bit nervous, as I had never done anything like this. I knew them, as I had seen them perform, but of course this demands a totally different dynamic in interaction than just watching them play! My way of dealing with nerves is preparation. I didn’t want to over-prepare, I wanted to go with the flow and leave some room for creative ideas, but I needed some tricks up my sleeve to keep the energy high, or to break through a dull moment. So I did some research on the internet, and found some useful information.

(This photo was made at the start of the shoot. I think everyone felt a bit uncomfortable:)

What I did for preparation, next to visiting the site a couple of weeks ago: I looked at CD-covers from pop-bands. This is what I have learned:

• Not all shots have to be head-to-toe or head-shots: there are several acceptable places to cut-off people. For example thigh-high, or just below the knee. Just avoid the cutting of at the ankle, because that really looks as if you just forgot the feet ;-):

• Having fun is important:

• It is ok if not everyone looks into the camera:

• Not smiling is totally acceptable (by the way, does she look cool, or what?):

I also got some ideas with respect to posing:

• Different type of lines: in a row next to each other or behind each other.

• Casual grouping. But I tried to keep a balance in the shot:

A tip that turned out to be very valuable: the guys can put their hand in their pocket, but only with the thumb outside (or the other way around, only the thumb in the pocket with the rest of the hand outside), that way it won’t look stiff 🙂 :

One trick that I used that was great fun for me (hey, the photographer should have some fun too, right?): have the entire group look in one direction (straight ahead), and then on my cue have them all look at me. I should have made a small movie of this, because it looked really funny. But maybe this will give you an idea:

Another great thing to try with for example a family: set a self timer, and have everybody run into the scene. A refreshing change from static posing. As it was getting late there was not much light, so there is some motion blur. However, I still like the result a lot.

In the next photo I like the lines of the buildings and the tiling on the floor. Such a great location!

After the test-shoot with my friend on the right, I was concerned that a graffiti back-ground would be too busy. But with everyone in a dark top I think this turned out great.

After dinner we went inside. During the test shoot we loved this indoor-location. However this day it was much darker, and the lighting inside proved to be really challenging. For this next photo I had to shoot handheld as I was leaning over a balcony. This has some impact on the quality of the photo, iso is high, noise is high, so it is not that sharp. But I like the zig-zag line of the five people.

Another one from indoors. I don’t think this photo can actually be used for their website or promotion material due to the noise and the dark shadows. But I still like it. Again, the singer looks very cool. And I like the shadow on the left, it’s like a mystery sixth member of the band.

So my thoughts after this shoot: it is really different from shooting landscape! One big difference: you can direct the subjects in the photo. And in this case: they even listened 🙂 ! In a landscape you have to move around a lot to get the right composition. For this shoot there was some movement from my part involved, but a big part of composing was telling them where to stand. I like that! I really enjoy the silence of a beach or forest just after sunrise, but with this shoot I kind of liked the interaction with people. We really had fun. Thank you guys and cool-looking girl, thanks for being so cooperative. All in all a good experience for me, might do it again some day….

Thanks for reading!