Shooting My First Campaign

Hey!! So I've been wanting to share the BTS of my first campaign. I have to admit that although I was completely terrified of shooting it, I was very excited to be doing it myself. 

So, the decision came right after a two-month failed attempt on finding a photographer. After learning that our usual photographer increased his price, I started searching for others. To my surprise, almost everyone cost the same or higher. After many disappointments, I came to realize this was something I needed to do myself, given it was way over my budget and I still had to consider the cost of hair+makeup, models + meals.

After discussing it with my sister (the one who validates or dismisses my ideas), we realized it was something I could do. I've owned a Canon 60D since 2012 and have learned about photography via YouTube videos and the extensive 8 years I've been using this camera. I don't consider myself a photographer at all, but I've learned to use my camera pretty well. However, being very honest with you, I was terrified about seeing my campaign next to the first photos we ever shot for the brand. I felt certain that you would be able to tell the difference by the quality of the shots. So, I made it my mission to do whatever it took to make my photos stand out. That's when I decided to invest in a new lens and a light reflector. I believe this was one of the best decision I made. The lens gave me the quality I was looking for, while the light reflector gave me that amazing glow in every photo. 

Going further into the preparation, choosing the lens was new for me. After a long search and some feedback from other photographers, I ended up choosing a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8. But, when it finally arrived, it was damaged. I ordered a replacement in a matter of minutes and a few days later I received the light reflector. The replacement lens didn't arrive until the night before the shoot, which only allowed me a few hours to play with it before the big day. I did see a lot of YouTube tutorials on how to adjust the settings to get certain types of photos, but it's not the same as if I would've had the lens with me. However, I did my best, and the next day, hair and makeup granted me about two hours to play with the camera! Viviana and Naomi where both assisting me during the day. Naomi was in charge of making sure all the styles were shot and Viviana helped me with the light reflector. Although none of us had used one before, we all considered Viviana at the end the "Glow Master". She made sure the girls had a golden tan in every pic! After a long day of shooting, then came the editing and that's when reality kicked in. I was completely worried about this part, as it meant that if they were horrible, I had to do it all over again. To my surprise, most of them got very little edits and this was when I finally felt relaxed. I felt so proud, who would've imagined?!! The photos ended up looking amazing, almost as if a professional photographer would've shot them... you be the judge! But, by no means were they perfect, there's still a lot to learn.

I guess the takeout from this experience is that as a small business, it's hard to make these kind of decisions. Most of the time I want to delegate, but the wallet ends up dictating most of what I do. I guess this happens to most startups. But to my surprise, these forced decisions sometimes end up being the best decisions. It's pretty amazing to see what you're capable of doing if you give yourself the chance to make it happen. Sometimes, we're not that lucky, but when we are, it makes us feel powerful and capable of making any dream come true! You just have to give yourself the opportunity to jump at it and give it your all. I'm certain you won't disappoint yourself, and if you don't succeed, you still learned something, and in my book, that's considered winning.