Holding a Professional Photo Shoot
Holding a photoshoot for your book’s cover sounds like a dream… but it can easily be a nightmare. I’ve had shoots where I got tons of gorgeous photos and others that didn’t produce a single usable image. Here are 6 tips to help you find success with your shoot.
Use a professional model.
You need someone who knows how to pose, their best side, and is comfortable and confident in front of the camera. With a professional model, 10% of your photos will be useable. With an amateur, you’re looking at something closer to 1%. While you might be tempted to pay your cute dog-walker or the girl at the gym - don’t.
Hire a local photographer.
Local photographers are good for several reasons.
They’re cheaper. You can often get a local photographer to shoot two hours of footage for $250 to $350, and give you rights to all of the photos.
They’re close by and often are familiar with local models that might be good candidates. Plus, you won’t have to pay for travel costs in order to have a shoot that you can attend.
Prepare for the shoot.
I like to find (or clip-art together) 15-20 images that are ideal for recreation. These can include poses, lighting, angles, and set design. I print out (or store on my phone) all of these images so I can communicate a clear vision to the photographer - and remind myself when I’m at the shoot.
Be at the shoot.
In addition to making sure that the photographer gets your key shots, you also need to watch out for the minor things that can screw up an entire image. Look for that erratic hair that is sticking out of place. The bra strap hanging from her shoulder. The tattoo that might not fit with your character and needs to be covered up.
Make sure that they get vertical shots.
I ask photographers to get each shot in a vertical and horizontal shot. I also ask for extra space on the side of the horizontal shots (when possible). This gives me opportunities for banners and teasers.
Buy the entire reel, and get your rights to them in writing.
You need to have full and exclusive worldwide rights to the images. You want to make sure that the photographer isn’t able to sell them as stock or to other individuals. Also, make sure that the models have also signed photo releases.
Below are some pics from a cover photoshoot I did for my novel MOONSHOT. It’s interesting to glance through them, and then see the final product - I think it all came together really well!
Here are some pictures from a professional cover shoot I did with Perrywinkle Photography. We shot the model against a solid background, so that I could easily photoshop her onto a baseball field. While I wasn’t able to be present at the shoot, I did send the photographer a big list of poses I wanted to be captured. I also ordered a custom jersey with my main character’s name on it, plus a hat with his number, and shipped those to the model in advance.
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