Client shoot at Krog Street Market

Photos From the Client Shoot

A couple of months ago, I mentioned that I'd done a client shoot at Krog Street Market but I didn't show any of the photos because I hadn't had time to get the client's permission. 

I always retain the copyright to my photos but I never post anything publically unless it's okay with the client.  

In this case, the client got back to me and told me it was fine to share them. 

So...here are a couple from the shoot.

They're not my everyday cityscapes or landscapes, but I've always loved street photography and this shoot gave me the opportunity to blend the artistic and street style within the parameters of the client's needs.

Labor Intensive but Fun

This was a labor-intensive shoot, but also fun. It takes a while to get enough photos to create each shot. 

I could have handheld the camera for a regular photo inside the market because it isn't that dark in there, but for these, I had to set up my tripod. That's because I knew to get the effect the client wanted, I'd need to use long exposures and combine some shots together.

Whenever you combine shots, even if you're only using a small part of one photo to use with another, you need your shots lined up perfectly so the perspective is correct. 

For the cover photo of this post, I used about six photos combined to get the look I wanted. 

My base shot had to have the advertiser on the screen in perfect focus, so I shot that with a fast shutter speed. I couldn't use a long exposure for that because the images on each pane of the screen are constantly changing so I would have had a blurry mess in a long exposure. 

After getting the base shot, I left my camera in the same position on the tripod and took about 40 more shots at varying shutter speeds. Under the light conditions, I liked 1/5th and 1/4th of a second for getting the nice blurring/ghosting when people walked through. 

I went through a similar process both inside and outside the market from different angles so I had enough shots for 6-7 finished photos showing the screens with the ad and lots of people and motion. 

The Editing Process

First, I picked a solid base photo showing the ad in focus on the screen. 

Then I picked 5-6 photos with people walking in from different angles to get the composition balanced right for the finished photo. 

I opened the photos as layers in Photoshop and got to work. 

With the photos stacked as layers, I started at the bottom, put a mask on each layer as I went up, and revealed each piece of each photo that I wanted for the final photo. 

That's hard to explain.

Essentially, I combine the photos into one photo that has all the elements from each individual photo that I want in the finished image. 

It's great having a client who gives me a few instructions and then lets me loose with my experience and creative vision to see what I come up with.

Although it's a long process, I love the challenge when it comes to editing a shoot like this, and it's especially gratifying when I get it done and back to the client and the client loves it. 

I did another job for him a couple of weeks ago. 

Between the heat, late afternoon storms, and my aching ankle, I haven't been out shooting as much as I'd like lately but I hope to get back out there soon for some new Atlanta photos for my site. 

Have a great rest of your week, and...

See you between the raindrops!

xoxo,
Susan

You can see lots more of my photos here.