Guest Post: The Extreme Benefits of a Well Executed Test Shoot by Jay Lawrence Goldman

At virtually every convention I’ve been at for the last twenty years, some where in the crowd I’ve spotted Jay Lawrence Goldman.  He rarely misses a major industry event – he’s a photo junkie and although teaching programs himself, he’s a regular attendee, never missing an opportunity to pick up a new technique or idea on lighting, posing, composition, manipulation - anything that might make him a better photographer.   And it’s all paid off – it’s made him one of the country’s very best!

He absolutely believes in pushing the edge of the envelope and trying new techniques.  He also believes in diversity, splitting his business between weddings, still life and commercial work.   He especially believes in having fun.  Remember “fun”?  It’s one of those words that too often gets lost today in business.   You need no more than one quick trip to his blog, Photo Steam Shovel, to realize his passion level for fun and imaging!

The last line of his guest post says it all…

“Shoot, shoot and shoot some more.  That is how you master a craft.”

Earlier this year, my team and I set up a test shoot at my studio for jewelry designer Pamela Froman.  There are dozens of trade publications in every field that accept photos for possible cover options.  The jewelry magazines have certain guidelines, which we researched and made note of.  Two of their requests were:  have the model’s eyes looking into the lens, and do not crop the head or body parts in the shot.  The art directors and editors like to make their own cropping decisions.

The night before the shoot, our model bailed on us with a fairly lame excuse.   In a remarkable twist of fate, that very afternoon professional model Donna Feldman and I had met regarding photography for her wedding later that year.  I e-mailed her at 7PM that evening, and after a few calls and some schedule rearranging, we were able to secure her services for the next day’s test shoot.

We shot for about 4 hours.  There were  4 wardrobe changes, and multiple jewelry changes.  I changed my lighting constantly: going from large soft-box, to beauty dish, to hot lights, to natural light.  It is extremely challenging to shoot a beauty shot of a model and get all the jewelry on her hands, wrists, ears,and neck to look sharp and sparkle in the same shot. 

Each one of these cover shots has about 2-3 hours of retouching.  I’ll let you in on a little secret:  The necklaces were all shot separately in a light box using 4 strobes and some LEDs.  They were then dropped in over the same piece that the model was wearing.  That is how I kept the jewelry sharp. This added to the appeal of these shots as cover contenders. 

We submitted about 6 shots to each magazine.  It was first come first serve.  InDesign took the first one, Modern Jeweler wanted that same one also, but they missed their window.  They took a more dramatic shot and cropped in tight.  Canadian Jewellery just published the last one for their Holiday Issue.  The red velvet dress was a big selling point.

Needles to say, we are all thrilled with the outcome of the shoot.  Pamela Froman, Donna, and myself nailed 3 covers within 5 months from the same 4 hour shoot.  Time well spent in my opinion. 

Shoot, shoot and shoot some more.  That is how you master a craft.