CREATE FOR A CLIENT
Ensure 100 per cent client satisfaction in a professional project
When shooting for a client the first thing to do is to get a feel for their business and the message that they want to purvey. Working with smaller companies or individuals often means dealing with the owner directly. a client will normally approach me because they have seen my work and would like something in my style, but not always, so it is important to make sure that their requirements are fully understood beforehand.
if they have images in mind that are not your own, then it’s a good idea to put together a mood board or a selection of images to reference to. once a style is established a client may then leave the rest to the photographer. this entails a huge element of trust on both parts, so even when a client gives you free reign it is advisable to put a plan or sketch of the final images together for them to approve. on the other spectrum a client can be extremely controlling and may want to be involved with every process. they may have their own stylists or designers, in which case you will need to be prepared to work with a team of people that are not your usual go-to specialists.
the photoshoot here was for an artist named humna Mustafa; she came to me because she had seen my work and wanted to have images of her kitchenware in a lifestyle setting with an arty edge. We talked extensively about her passion for her own designs and in turn this really inspired my own work. as a client she was very relaxed and trusted me to create something beautiful and unique for her collection.
after any shoot i like to do my own pre-edit using the star function in photoshop Bridge. open the folder in Bridge and do a quick one star for all images, leaving out test shots, multiples or other shots that just don’t meet the customer brief. then with the star filter selected i would either let the client look through the images and allow them to select their preferred images by my side, or i would do that on my own on their behalf. again this comes with an element of trust between photographer and client. Depending on the shoot this could go to 3, 4 or 5 stars.
once the final images have been selected i then open these in adobe camera raw for some post-processing and then some final adjustments or retouching over in photoshop.