Any conversation with a client which starts…” how on earth did you manage to do that?”… whilst they're grinning ear to ear, is always a good start to a meeting!
Having heard this recently from a long standing client it got
me thinking about just exactly what it is we do, and why we manage to have this
effect on clients whilst just doing our job…
It’s not that clients are totally unaware of what we do as
photographers…after all there are some who take great interest in exactly what
happens when the photographer turns up…those that take “thoughtful
contemplation” as clear signs of incompetence and a need to offer constructive
advice from their extensive photographic knowledge…after all just how difficult can
it be to take photographs if you’re doing it?
Then again others will look around the studio as though
entering a magical kingdom… a land of smoke and mirrors…where pretty much
anything you do will result in an “ohh” or a “whowww!” You are clearly a
magician who will work your own special magic on the obscure widget they have
brought lovingly to this temple of creativity.
However when it comes to the image above, of The Creative
Arts Building at Huddersfield University, my client has many years of
experience of what I do and how I do it… usually when we discuss budgets it’s
all about trying to avoid their photog’s irrational desire to request 100ft
aerial platforms, movement of entire site offices, relocation of a visually
offencive parked car…or indeed entire car parks…or "borrow" an aircraft to achieve
a suitable aerial viewpoint which will definitely look fantastic, but needs to
be overhead around dawn to get the best light…and yes we have done all that and
more…and they’ve loved the results! To say nothing of the fact the best light
will definitely not be until next spring when the sun is in the best location…
That I “chase the light” …a phrase I believe truly describes
photography, but must confess I’ve pinched from a photog friend…just hope he’s
not looking…is really the key to a project like this.
Light… its direction, strength and quality which help create
great images…whether the source is several million miles away or within reach.
Put another way if you can stand there and see no shadow cast by yourself it’s
either not a good architectural photography day…or you’re related to the “living dead”…just
best not to explain this to the client quite like that!
When I recce’d this location, along with several others for
this client, I was really conscious of the reflective nature of the building
cladding and glass curtain walls…key features of the design and materials
employed…despite the fact I was there during a typical “Yorkshire Summer”…that it
was “raining” does not adequately describe the generosity of the weather!
What did we do without Google Maps, weather forecasts and
sun charts…that’s right I have a little knowledge of where to look to find the
time of year when the sun “should” shine in just the right direction for this
or any other building…not magic really! So that’s why this client trusted me to
wait through several months of apparently lovely sunshine for the time of year
when the sun would give us the effect I had in mind…
So on the weekend of the shoot we were on-site just after
sunrise…about 6.00am…after around a 2 hour drive…sitting in a supermarket car
park with a clear view of the building…waiting for the local cloud to clear…and
waiting…and waiting…because the forecast was for sunshine before “mid morning”…
Here I’ll gloss over the wonderful cooked breakfast…always
sets you up for a day “cloud watching”… the issue of car parking for hours sat
staring out the car windows…always guaranteed to attract attention from the
“fluorescent jacket brigade!” Yes…I am “stalking”…that great big building over
there…not your customers!!
And it’s all that questioning, planning, preparation and
experience which we as photographers need to educate clients about. If we’re
lucky…just like I’ve been…our clients realise that we have skills and
experience which they must respect, just as they would any other
professional…and in turn we must produce the result which make them ask “how
did you do that?”
It’s just that moment which gives the opportunity to educate
them about what makes us professional photographers…over a coffee and chocolate
biscuit please!
