Being Efficient With Your Subject's Time

While waiting for my girlfriend Amy to meet me outside the Old Navy in downtown San Francisco, I noticed a perfect opportunity to take a quickie portrait. I liked the colors on display in the shop window. More importantly, the window was a large source of diffuse light, so if Amy stood next to it, her face would be softly lit. As with most things in life, advance preparation is important, especially because Amy doesn't like to stand out in the cold while I tinker with my camera!

First thing I did was use my hand to test what exposure setting would best light her face without overexposing the items in the window. Second, I took some test shots of the window to figure out how to best frame the photo. When she arrived, I was ready to go. I told her where to stand and told her to smile. Thirty seconds and two shots later, I was done and we were off to dinner. Though the exposure settings and composition I chose for Amy differed from my test shots, I was very close. I only had to make a few minor tweaks. The few minutes I spent figuring things out without Amy saved her from having to endure that time in the cold. Whether it's scouting locations, setting up your lighting, or figuring out your exposure settings, the more you can do before your subject arrives, the more efficient you can be with your subject's time.