Don't know where to post this, well I do, but since I only hang out here, ontario and sometimes auto racing and none in OT, I figure I'll ask some of you guys for some help.

Took my portfolio for some reviews over the past two weeks, and well needless to say I'm now on the process of a revamp

I have 6 ideas that I'd like to see done, but the problem is inside of these 6 ideas are countless number of possible combinations that I could do. Each is about a 6 to 8 page 'spread' around one distinct theme.

For the guys who've shot creatives / commercial ads w/o a creative / art director; do you sketch or make a collage as your story board before you go about and getting a team together? How was your pre-production workflow.

 

Not my specialty Cyril, but I wish you luck man

 

Usually the art director and the photo scout will advertise what the job is. You need to bring them a book, or books, that are RELATED (as far as subject matter goes) to their needs.

If someone want's a shot of a souffle, bringing them amazing shots of mountains and s2000s won't help.

Beyond that, I am not sure if I understand your question correctly....must be that pesky Canadian English of yours.

 

I'm not 100% commercial yet as I am still juggling both retail and commercial photography, but here is my 2 cents from my past commercial experience.

I've done few shoots without art directors. The initial preplanning for me involves getting to know the client's product, location scouting, and lighting scheme. I usually look for talents last, as the requirement for models can change during the course of preproduction.

Each shoot or ideas that I have are sketched in my note book. With those sketches I will go out and scout a location that fits my/client's concept. I usually take scouting pics and work with those to figure out my lighting and everything involved with photography side of the shoot.

I find fashion editorials to be more demanding in terms of previsualizing or preplanning without an art director. It sounds like you have enough concepts to start shooting right away. I usually work with a stylist and I feel its a must for editorials. you want to have all your angles covered before you start looking for talents and move forward with the shoot.

location, talents, licensing agreements and duration of useage, property release(only if needed), talent release, MUA, stylist, etc.

 

Thanks Steven, that helped