Taking Control of Your Set

It’s never easy doing something new.  It’s never easy feeling confident when you aren’t completely positive about what you are doing.  Such a situation has become a huge stumbling block to far too many good up-and-coming shooters; and, honestly, it highlights a skill that every photographer needs to master as much as any photographic technique.  What’s the skill?–The ability to control your set.

On a typical photo shoot, there are a lot of different elements that come into play.   Lighting, styling the set, posing the model, crew, staff clients and–oh, by the way–your equipment are only the tip of the iceberg.  Personalities can often be the greatest obstacle to achieving a great results.

How many times has it happened?  A model walks in the door looking pretty rough and immediately begins sharing her drama about her horrible boyfriend or how late she was up last night partying.  How many times has a makeup artist slowed the process of a shoot by chatting away about the latest unrelated melodrama? 

The most common mistake I see with many photographers is inaction.  The fear of controlling your set is crippling.  Photographers must understand this simple principle:  the images created are your responsibility.  You are accountable, and ultimately it is you who needs to control the outcome of a shoot. 

Keeping a reasonably professional environment does not make you a jerk.  You are not the makeup artist’s therapist.  You are not the model’s counselor.  The MUA and model may want you to play a violin while they cry about life’s troubles; but you are a photographer, not a violinist.  You are there to capture images with impact.  Ultimately everyone is relying on you for those images.  No client will say, “Oh, these images aren’t very good, but it’s ok.  The model broke up with her boyfriend the night before.  It’s not your fault.”

Furthermore, you are not on a set to entertain a model’s boyfriend or even her parents.  I have personally run into several circumstances where a meddling mother was interjecting her own opinions while she watched a shoot.  She started directing her daughter while on set.   Because of this distraction, I had to ask the mother to leave the set.  I was not being a jerk but, rather, was taking responsibility for doing my job.  The mother’s intrusion was affecting the shoot.

The key to everything is not WHAT you do, but rather HOW you do it.  First, I casually warned the mother in a light-hearted way.  “All right, Mom!  I can do a shoot with you later, but right now let me do my job.”  That caution said with a smile and laugh is a great beginning.  Next you say, “All right.  I know this is fun, but I need you to let me do my job.  I am the one looking through the camera. “  Then comes the final, more serious warning–“Mom, I’m going to have to ask you to leave if you get involved again.” 

The same goes for boyfriends or whoever.  Have you ever had a makeup artist become too opinionated on set?  Just say, “Hey!  You can always buy a camera and do this yourself, you know.  You did a great job with the makeup.  Let me do the same with the photography.”  Said with a smile, these comments can solve a lot of problems.

Now, back to the model with the boyfriend drama…Just say to her, “I’ll be happy to listen after the shoot, but right now I need you to focus on what we are doing here.”

Taking immediate control of a set in a nice way does not mean that you are being harsh.   It doesn’t mean that you don’t care or aren’t a nice person.  It does mean that you are concerned about the images you are responsible for creating.

There is time for the personal stuff when the lights are shut down.  Until then, focus on the task at hand.