Pontiac Photoshoot

Went in to work early this morning, and took my tripod with me. Ben and I went to do a quick photoshoot for a promotion that Q101 is doing, involving Pontiac.

Basically, two people (Mackenzie and Bres) will serve as the “Street Team,” and go about promoting various Pontiac vehicles around time (giving away iPod minis and helping folks register for a grand prize). We drove out to North Avenue Beach and set up a few shots for the microsite we’ll be making next week.

Once we all got a bit more comfortable, everyone loosened up some.

Quick self-portrait.

I doubt we’re using all these shots – but I’m just throwing a few that I liked on here.

One thing I realized was that I wasn’t being very chatty at all. Ben was doing a great job talking to both Mackenzie and Bres, getting them talking and laughing more. Towards the end of the shoot, I was talking more, but it didn’t come all that easy to me.

I realize now, looking back, how critical getting people talking is to the whole process. Initially, while I was trying to take pictures, I was quiet and just doing my thing. The two of them, in turn, were trying to be serious and were coming off stiff as a result.

Once Ben was able to break the ice some, they all (me included) loosened up. Some of the more genuine, real shots took place after Ben began engaging them more.

I’m not a real photographer, but I do get lucky every once in a while. For every picture that turned out, there were a ton that didn’t. Even as I was trying to set up shots, I felt like there were 100 things I *wasn’t* doing.

Outside of the technical stuff, the one thing that really stuck with me was how important it is to engage the subjects you’re photographing. Getting people comfortable in front of a camera seems like an art unto itself.

Ben snapped this pic of me, as we were leaving.

On the way out, I spotted an old Q101 sticker.