(and how to avoid them)

We have compiled a list of the most common things we see go wrong in a photo shoot that lead to us not getting the shots we plan for, not getting to execute the full plan, or our clients not looking their best. Fortunately, these problems are avoidable and preparation is the key.

1. Leaving Behind Important Items
   Not having the stuff you need during a photo shoot is the biggest challenge we face to missing important shots, opportunities for cool shots that present themselves and not losing valuable time. Leaving your baseball bat home will make it hard to do those action pics swinging at home plate. Leaving your hair accessories home on a windy day makes every shot take longer to deal with hair issues.
2. Shiny Skin
   You can get away with shiny skin and shimmering makeup when you are on a date at the movies, at school or a dimly lit restaurant. But when you are being photographed with either artificial or natural lighting, your shiny complexion is greatly exaggerated. This is one of the key differences between everyday makeup and photo shoot makeup and why we recommend using a professional makeup artist who specializes in photography.
3. Too Much Eyeliner
   Girls who don’t hire a professional makeup artist occasionally overdo the eyeliner in order to draw attention to their eyes. What they don’t realize until it is too late is that they are making their eyes look darker and smaller.
4. Forgetting About the Plan
   “Oh, was I supposed to bring that?” are words we unfortunately hear too often. They are usually followed by “Shoot! Now what do we do!”. Our best work is usually planned, so if you forget to review or re-review the plan as you prepare for your photo shoot, you are infinitely more likely to forget an important detail that was planned to make your pictures special. Review your plan and use our Photo shoot Checklist to help you prepare and avoid forgetting important items.
5. Starting Late
   We always pad our plans with additional time in case something goes wrong. Maybe we have a hard time finding parking, take a wrong turn and end up lost, or have to stop en route to get something you forgot.  The additional time we add helps deal with these types of situations. But if you start off the shoot with a significant delay, you’ve already burned through your buffer and any more delays will start cutting into your photo shoot time.
6. Locations not Arranged in Advance
   We’ve been on photo shoots where we’ve spent a half-hour or more trying to track down a janitor to let us in the auditorium, only to spend another half-hour trying to find someone to work the lights for us. When we plan, we classify private locations into two categories – those that are best to ask for forgiveness if we run into an issue and move on to plan B if necessary and those that are best to ask for permission and have arrangements made in advance. Gymnasiums and auditoriums are a great example of locations that should be arranged ahead. There are occasions where we have lost a half-hour or more trying to track down a janitor to let us in and occasionally even more time trying to find someone to work the lights. Best to have someone arranged throughout the time we plan to be on location who can handle all details such as access to the location, lights, equipment, etc…
7. Running out of Gas
   We mean this both literally in the automotive sense and from an endurance standpoint. Your photo shoot may be planned for as many as 5 hours and may involve many miles of travel between locations and you don’t want to have to stop to buy food, drinks and gas if you can avoid it. We suggest making sure you have enough gas in the tank to get through the photo shoot and enough drinks and snacks that you won’t run out of steam before we run out of daylight.
8. Trying your Non-Smiling Look for the First Time At Your Photo shoot
   If you want a mix of smiling and non-smiling looks in your senior pictures, but you’ve never tried or never been very good at non-smiling looks, then you definitely don’t want your photo shoot to be your first time trying. It’s hard to get comfortable when you can’t see yourself and you feel awkward with the spotlight on you. Practicing in front of the mirror ahead of time and trying some easy tips will help you avoid wasting valuable time trying to get your look right during your photo shoot.
9. Waiting Until the Last Minute to Prepare
   It’s easy to underestimate how much time it takes to get ready for a photo shoot. Our senior photo shoots tend to involve a lot of details by the nature of how personalized they are and how involved our seniors are in activities and interests they want incorporated in their pictures. The seniors that wait until the last minute to start preparing often find themselves stressed out and unprepared for their photo shoot. We’re pretty good at keeping photo shoots light and fun, but come to your photo shoot stressed-out in addition to the usual senior photo shoot jitters and it may take us a while to get you chilled out.
10. Not Bringing the Right Undergarments
    Too often girls bring great outfits that are limited by bad undergarment choices. Classic examples include white dresses with black panties or strapless tops but no strapless bras. It’s easy to forget when seniors have so many outfits and many of them still have tags on them so it’s worthwhile to do a quick assessment to make sure you’ve packed the right stuff underneath for each outfit before your photo shoot. Think nude colors when you’ll be wearing any outfits with thin material and may become even a little see through. This is especially true if you’re planning on the outfit getting wet like for trash the dress pictures.