Gettin' Photographed

i dont claim to be the greatest photographer in the world. most of the time, its by blind luck that i take some of my best pictures. lately ive done quite a bit of editorial work so i thought it might be nice if i passed along some of my wisdom, most of which i accquired by making many, oh so many, mistakes.

this info might be particularly useful for bands looking to be photographed but can apply to anyone in general. if im missing anything, chime in. ill happily field your questions if you’ve got ‘em.

» you dont have to be the snappiest dresser in the world to look amazing on camera. i mean, springsteen rocked it in jeans and a white t-shirt! the point is, take a moment to make yourself look mildly presentable. wrinkled shirts are a photographer’s nightmare—we can photoshop stains, holes, etc but wrinkles? no way. get an iron and touch up that shirt or pants.

if you’re being photographed with a band, try to coordinate your outfits. im not talking matching suits, just some forethought. avoid having more than one bandmate in a patterned shirt. let one person wear the pattern and keep everyone else in solid colors.

unless you are looking to advertise benetton or gay pride [these are not bad things, mind you], wearing similar colors is an ideal situation. one time i went to a phillies game and N*SYNC showed up in team jerseys, each a different color. it was a cute but stupid gimmick. go with one color, like, say, blue. you’ll get a nice variety of shades and fabric textures that way. failing that, stick to neutrals. see the picture on the right for clarification.

» i know you’re hungover as shit but please please please fake a pleasant attitude. smiling a little will go a long way. if you feel good you will look good on camera. indulge your ego, a little. please. i like to joke with my subjects so that they laugh. people look great when they’re laughing.

» keep talking to a bare minimum during a shoot. when the photog is snapping away lots of pictures in a short amount of time and you’re talking, more than likely will we wind up with a picture of you making some goofy-ass face. no one wants to be immortalized that way.

» there are two places you can look—right into the camera and off to the sides. you run the risk of looking weird otherwise. try not to blink so much. you will make the photog ver ver ver happy.

» don’t slouch! your mother said so and for good reason—having good posture makes you feel better. feeling better puts you in a good mood. a good mood translates well on camera. the entire point of this is to make you look good, right?

» concepts? you dont need a concept—a good photograph stands on its own. some of my best work has occurred in the most nondescript locations, like parking lots.

» avoid shooting in front of brick walls, unless you want to appear on rock’n’roll confidentials “hall of douchebags”. solid color walls, like white ones, are best. [they also make everyone’s skin tons look great.] however, should you find yourself in the presence of a truly amazing wall, dont stand right up against it. get about 5-10 feet away from it so it will show up on camera in a pleasing manner.

» you should always get two photos taken—one horizontal and vertical shot, respectively. that way people can pick and choose which image fits best for their materials.

» ask for a copy of the image at 300 dpi resolution and no smaller than 4×5 inches. this will create a manageable file size for you to email to publicists, magazines, etc in the future. save the image in JPEG format, as its pretty universal!