I am no great photographer. In fact, outside of taking run of the mill family candids, I've only begun my interest in photography in the last month or so. BUT, I've been asked by a friend to take head shots of his band members. I don't even know where to begin. Any and all advice that can be passed along to me I would appreciate. And would I even charge them?? I don't know. His wife is my best friend so I'm thinking just do it for free.
The first thing I learned about photography: doing anything for free will burn you for life. As soon as you do one photo shoot for free, they will want more for free, and then they'll tell their friends about how you do free portrait shoots, and pretty soon you'll have a reputation as a free photographer. End of the game.
However, considering the connection, give them a "discount". I charge $200 an hour to do portraits, which I think is about the average. Figure out what you want to charge, then offer it as a discount, that way you still make a little money, you don't look like a free photographer, and they feel better about getting a discount.
As for the shoot itself, there are so many things to consider. Day shoot, night shoot, studio shoot? Natural lighting or strobes? The first portrait shoot I ever did was for a band as well (I charged them $85 for one hour). I used three strobes and two cameras, but I was actually borrowing a friend's gear.
sounds like outside/natural light might be easiest? do you have any studio lights, or anything? i say go for it! and have fun! we all have to start somewhere.
If you don't have a studio set-up, natural light is the best way, in my opinion anyway. Jason gave you some good advice about freebies; and I'm speaking from experience here. Yes, you will get bombarded with requests for free portraits, or at the very least to work incredibly cheap. People start taking advantage very quickly. On the other hand, she is your best friend. If you choose to do it for free, they need to know it's because of your relationship. But I would have pricing prepared for any other requests that come in.
Google other photographer's headshots. Get plenty of ideas ahead of time, and scout out good locations. Mostly, have FUN with it. Your learning, so don't worry if you don't get exactly what you want the first time. Try, try again! Good luck to you!
Do a google search to see how other photographers have approached the subject. Find a style that you like (or, more to the point, your client) likes, and go from there.
A great piece of advice I heard was that nature only provided one light source & it seems to work pretty well - so don't get hung up about needing lots of expensive kit. Perhaps natural light & a reflector are all you'll need (and that need be no more than an A2 piece of white card if necessary).
Good luck!
If they're wanting professional, quality studio photos then you should probably talk to your friend & the band members about you not actually being a photographer. If not, I'd still talk to them about discount prices.
Thanks for all the advice! I really appreciate it. I'll do some research online as you have all suggested. I've already been straight up with him about the fact that I have a point and shoot, no other equipment and that if "professional" is what he's after it's not a place I'm at right now. He's totally cool with it. He said he likes what I do. They are a fairly new Christian band releasing their first CD in a couple of weeks and mostly work for free themselves. If I decide to do it I may just ask for a donation to my DSLR savings fund. He also wants me to set up a promo table at their CD release party. His request for me to do headshots sort of blind sided me because I started this project simply to learn about photography and improve my skills. I had no intentions of doing it for money.
f2.2 focus on the eyes, keep a check on your histogram, natural settings, not vivid, don't worry about messed up shots they can be saved by changing to BW. Yellow tint flash, warm face colour, use a monopod only £15 well worth it. Make sure the band members arn't squinting in the sun. try f1.8 or f1.4, blurs the background. good luck, most of all have a cloth handy to give the lens a wipe, youll be amazed how often youll us it....
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However, considering the connection, give them a "discount". I charge $200 an hour to do portraits, which I think is about the average. Figure out what you want to charge, then offer it as a discount, that way you still make a little money, you don't look like a free photographer, and they feel better about getting a discount.
As for the shoot itself, there are so many things to consider. Day shoot, night shoot, studio shoot? Natural lighting or strobes? The first portrait shoot I ever did was for a band as well (I charged them $85 for one hour). I used three strobes and two cameras, but I was actually borrowing a friend's gear.
Google other photographer's headshots. Get plenty of ideas ahead of time, and scout out good locations. Mostly, have FUN with it. Your learning, so don't worry if you don't get exactly what you want the first time. Try, try again! Good luck to you!
A great piece of advice I heard was that nature only provided one light source & it seems to work pretty well - so don't get hung up about needing lots of expensive kit. Perhaps natural light & a reflector are all you'll need (and that need be no more than an A2 piece of white card if necessary).
Good luck!