I believe that every photo shoot is a learning experience. We all know a lot of work goes in to setting up even a simple TFP shoot, and they can have various degrees of success as well as creative or technical hurdles for everyone involved. From finding someone you really want to work with, deciding on what to shoot together, and all the way through the end of the shoot, it's a challenge.

So I'm wondering, as a model, photographer, stylist or MUA..what have you found to be a key discovery that has helped you be better at what you do? Whether you learned it from a bad experience or from a good one, what is the one thing that you either remember to do or don't do again.

I've found that no matter how much I over-prepare for a shoot, the magic happens in the shots that I never planned on shooting. Also, stop worring about the micro details.. just shoot.. it's okay not to be "perfect". That's what testing is about :-P

Listen to the other party, gain from their experiences.

as a model I have learned so much about photography, lighting, what looks good in an image what looks bad. If I run into a photographer who wants to shoot at noon on a sunny day I know about where his skill level is and what my resulting images will look like (at the bottom of my trash can)

as a photographer I shot a model the other day and she exclaimed that because I told her just how her body looked and she had lumpy bits when she turned a certain way. I could show her on my body. she said not many photographers know that and the model in me helped our shoot a lot.

My most important understanding is to take into account the model's ideas and interests.  I see most of my models working with me multiple times - and many of my images in my port both nudes and clothed could be considered "Co-Creations" 

There are some amazing and creative models out there that miss out and seem to be treated like a clothes rack - (or bikini hanger) a lot of the time.

When I shoot outdoors - I usually have the model look through the camera - to see how it is framed - "how do you see yourself fitting into the scene?"  If she likes the environment and feels safe and comfortable - the rest can almost be easy.

And finally, a good reason is that its darned difficult for most models to lie to the camera - if they are cold / tired / scared / or worried about who might walk over the ridgeline - it'll show.  And heaven help us if they are only bored - and you as a photographer, have given them no reason to be anything else. 

(one model told me her entire direction for a shoot was "just move around like you usually do")

VintageV

Thanks for the reply... hmmm, I thought this would have been a more popular subject though.
oh well, Happy Easer!
:-)

I took a Commercial and Industrial Photography class in college from a Brooks graduate. We had all sorts of challenging assignments, mostly using 4x5. The most important thing that has stuck in my head, the thing I use again and again (drum roll please!) is............ON LOCATION, ALWAYS BRING A BROOM!!! (really, no kidding).

Have Fun, Take Pictures!!

Pretty much learn from the other person,if it be another model or the photographer. If it be poses,how to look,something about your face that you should never do,etc.

I remember when I got my first lighting set I couldn’t wait to take it out on assignment (I was shooting for a newspaper).  Had a group shot assigned to me, so I lugged the lights out (Novatrons were not small/lightweight), and worked frantically to set them up in 15 minutes (so my group didn’t get impatient).  Had the light stands/heads/umbrellas set up, plugged them into the power pack, and went to plug the power pack into the wall… I take a look… 3 prong plug, 2 prong outlet (and no matter how many times I looked at each, neither was going to change).  Needless to say an adapter now lives in my lighting kit.

But, the main lesson it contributed to teaching me (lots of small lessons like that add up to one big lesson), is to think on my feet, and always have contingency plans.

Scouting all locations can make or break a shoot - or a life.

Go to your locations and watch the sun go down - watch the lighting and see where you will have the best potential at 5 - 6- or sunset.

Look for hazzards - watch from the models position, for line of sight issues, for onlookers.   "Does a trailriding club go by every Sunday?"  Sketchy areas must be checked for crackheads, tweekers, crazies, and nutjobs with axes.

(The day before a shoot - I went to a location of boulders and while checking out the site again - found a huge rattlesnake had moved in under the rocks. - - we found somewhere else to shoot . . .  But the model was protected because I scouted)

When compared to your model's safety - everything else is insignificant.

VintageV

I assisted on a Glamour shoot a few years ago.  Most of the photos were of bikini clad females with artificially enhanced boobs.

The photographer had me watch for 'ripples', a side effect which happens when women with implants pose in certain ways.   If a ripple appeared, I was supposed to tell them so it wouldn't be in the picture.

I never knew anything about this phenomenon, so the models would purposely pose and show me the ripples so I knew what to look for, then they explained other details of their enhancements.

Now, I think I'm an 'expert' in ripples.

Anecdotal:

If you've just shot a lovely set of outdoor scenics the day before... It's a good idea to take off your polarizing filter BEFORE your indoor model shoot..

Went nuts trying to figure out why one lens was over a stop darker than the other...

A few of my hard-learned lessons:

1. As some others have said, scope out locations for various hazards. Take some pictures to see if it attracts any attention. If not obviously illegal or dangerous, the adage "it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission" applies to location shooting.

2. Be sensitive to third parties and how you shooting affects them.

3. Don't rush to put images online, no matter how good you think they are. It is best to give the model some say in this.

4. If a model says "what do you have in mind?", answer carefully.

And most importantly:

5. Never re-schedule a no-show now matter how appologetic they are. They really don't want to shoot with you.

My most important photo learning experience happened by accident, when I had had a few too many beers and was talking to a buddy of mine who was looking at some of my photos. I was doing the usual photographer control-freak routine and whenever I showed him a print, I'd say something like, "I wish this one was a bit darker" or "I wish I'd had the model more to the side for this one" or whatver. And Glen kept shaking his head and saying "I hear you, but I don't see what you're saying. This is all I have to look at."

Suddenly I realized a very important thing, namely that: Because I was the person who had created the image, I could see all the possibilities in the image that most of the people looking at it would never realize were there. In fact, like my friend, 99.99% of the world would judge every photograph as unique and totally without the baggage of context, or "coulda, shoulda, woulda"s. At that moment I believe I truly understood, as Ansel Adams said: the image has to speak for itself.

Another thing I learned from that experience is that US Marines are better judges of art than most of us might expect.

mjr.