Last week, we spoke about 10 Tips to Produce Your Photo Session. Then I had a photo session. So, how did my photo session work out?

Let's Cut to the Chase About the Photo Session

The photo session went very well. It wasn't without some apprehension and profanity (before, not during), but we came away with a variety of shots that pleased both of us.

If everything went perfectly, there wouldn't be a reason for me to create this post and pat myself on the back. Instead, I want to discuss some of the things that I could improve. Hopefully, this review will help you on your next photo session.

What Was Different About This Photo Session?

This photo session was a kick-off of a long term project for me. I want to create a portfolio of work that's worthy of a gallery showing. This session was a bit of a shake-out for me, and I treated it differently than most of my other sessions.

Here's what usually happens in my portrait sessions. Either I invite someone over to my home studio where I have a lot of gear and studio strobes, or I go with a small flash on a location session.

In this case, I decided to bring my studio to the location so I would have both quality lighting and plenty of options.

That worked out both to my benefit and consternation.

Gathering My Resources

Step 5 of my 10 Tips to Produce Your Photo Session says to gather your resources. Seems like sound advice. I just had one problem in this step.

I'm a tad disorganized.

The problem with having so much gear and few places to store it means that it tends to scatter all over the place. Some of my gear is in my home office, other pieces are in my garage. Generally speaking, I know where to find everything. This time, I had difficulty locating some items.

This is where the profanity came about.

Ultimately, I found everything. It seems that some items – like my Tether Tools Table – didn't go back to its proper spot after it was last used about three years ago. Lee found it stuffed between a chair and end table in our living room.

Another frustration was an Elinchrom strip box I recently bought used online. The good news is that I stored that in the right place. The bad news is that I didn't fully inspect it when it arrived. As I started to assemble it, I realized that it had the wrong speed ring for a strip box.

It's an Elinchrom speed ring, but the joints to accept the poles in the strip box are in the wrong place. I ordered a new speed ring, but it wouldn't arrive in time because I discovered this problem the night before the photo session.

That means I had to fall back on some older gear – a pair of Photoflex LiteDome Medium soft boxes. Each comes with a grid and produces lovely light.

I hate these soft boxes with a passion.

The reason I hate them is because you have to assemble the poles into the speed ring by hand. No spring joints or umbrella action here. Put pole in hole and repeat. Then reverse that process to strike the boxes down.

Quite simply, it's a pain in the neck and increases the time to setup or strike your equipment when on location.

I should have examined things sooner than the night before, but I was sick and let it slide. Lesson learned.

I Forgot a Few Things

Despite bringing a lot of gear, I let myself forget a few things.

First, I generally use an (affiliate link for Amazon) to make sure that I have accurate and consistent color on my photos. Though I had it with me, I forgot to use it.

Fortunately for me, I already have a camera profile using the lights and lens combination I used on this shoot. Still, it's a good practice to use this for every new shoot and I plain forgot to pull it out of my bag.

Next, I didn't think to get a decent photo of my lighting setup.