Written materials for portrait clients pre-shoot

A couple of the books on group and portrait photography I've read

have mentioned having some written materials to give to clients to

read/review before the shoot. These materials might include some

basic advice on how to dress, what to bring (if not in the home;

clothing, props of special significance), etc. But also some of the

questions that it seems would help the photographer if the clients

thought about before hand (e.g., what is the purpose of the

photograph(s), who are they for, will they be hung? where? what size

and orientation?; what are special things a person or group want to

convey in a portrait?; particular personal features to show or hide;

etc.). And of course practical things about how the session will

proceed so people know what to expect.

I would think these kinds of things might personalize/individualize

a session, taking it away from the generic stuff in a shopping mall

(but I'll bet even shopping-mall studios have tip sheets they give

clients before a shoot). Yet the contents of these materials would

be pretty common across photographers (though someone who

specializes in executive photography might have a few different

items than someone who specializes in child photography).

So are there some online examples of this kind of material, so I

don't have to develop my own?

I can't find any materials like the above online (I'll admit that it

is awfully hard to search for them; I went to a bunch of

photographers sites and found no materials). I thought I'd ask

whether people on this site have seen such material and can point me

to it, or would have something to share with others.

And if these kinds of materials are useless (I'm just learning, so

something that seems like a good idea to me might be a waste of

time), let me know!

John

That's a good idea.

We use a very short questionnaire, with short sentences, believing that long ones won't be read and answered. My "wifely partner" uses it to gather basic data (names of subjects, etc.) for our files, and to have them select any basic types of poses that they may have in mind (individual close-ups, group full-shot, etc.), so we don't forget to take any pictures that they have pre-visualized (I'm 58 years old and very forgetful).

If I don't like the brightness of their clothing, I just select the clothing in PS and reduce its luminance (using the middle slider on the Levels panel). But if you don't want to do that, then yes you should give them advice before the session, although they may not remember it. I agree that it is very important to somehow ensure that their clothing does not compete with their faces.

"Brandon's Dad"

We meet with the client after an initial discussion/telephone conversation and have them bring the wardrobe discussed and we go over it together, after going over it, we have the client sign off on the wardrobe.

When things are agreed upon and signed off on, that tends to prevent any misunderstanding or hard feelings from loss of memory or wishful thinking on the part of the client later on, I've had a couple of clients in the past ask for reshoots saying they were dis-satisfied with their portraits, who would then show up for the reshoot in different clothes, at that point I show them what they've signed off on, along with my assurance that I'll shoot them until their happy but only in the wardrobe we both originally agreed on, with this type of client this usually 'squashes' the reshoot.

You need the client to sign off on the wardrobe you've both agreed on, the initial(always make this non-refundable) deposit for the shoot in case they cancel, also when, how long, and where shoot is to take place, and what kind of shape they should be in when they show up for the shoot(you have to be careful phrasing this, so you need to diplomatically spell out for instance what happens if they show up ungroomed and drunk, and yes clients have showed up in this condition).

I've been to small claims twice over some of these very issures, both times the client had signed off on something he claimed he hadn't signed off on, the court appearances went very fast and I won both of them. Sometime it's better to bend that get official, I've had a friend show up to have his portrait done up drunk and unshaven, rather than mess up the friendship, we just let him sleep it off, and rescheduled.

Try looking at Marathon Press. They have some items that sound like what you are looking for. You will find them on the "Printing > Preproduced products" menu.

http://www.marathonpress.com/

Thanks for the suggestion on Marathon Press. Unfortuanately it looks like they are glossy brochures available in quantity of 100-500...:)

I spent about two hours pawing through google looking for examples of written materials. I found maybe a dozen examples. Most were about clothing (I think there are some "questions to think about so the photographer will know what you want out of your portrait", but I didn't see any examples of that), and most were for senior (student) portraits.

But here's what I found, for anybody else interested in this topic:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,285328,00.html

http://www.sadiesonline.com/faq.php

http://www.craftyeyephoto.com/dynamic/SessionGuide/SeniorSession.php

http://yourbestimagepid.com/photo_image_services.htm#preshoot

http://www.seniorphotog.com/wear.html

http://www.moonshotphoto.com/senior-pages/senior-planning-print.html

http://www.snappyphotoinc.com/index.asp?p=1620

http://www.snappyphotoinc.com/index.asp?p=1619

http://www.picturethiswindom.com/csseniorpage.htm

http://www.houseofphotography.com/Family%20Portrait%20Price%20List.pdf

http://www.yetiphoto.ca/portraits/session.php

http://www.dcmag.co.uk/news/article/mps/UAN/184/v/1/sp/332309698329342683348

http://www.jpclimbingguide.com/photo/seniors.htm

If others have suggestions/additions, please post. (I realize this is a bit OffTopic for lighting! So I posted this thread over in the portrait forum for followup.)

John