Work vs music...

I'll share a little secret with you. Music helps me in all areas of my photo work. If you are going to be a photographer, you need to have access to good music. As you are shooting, you can loosen up your subject by playing their favorite album. It helps keep the momentum going.

Music also helps pace you when you are working on the computer, doing all the post-production work in Lightroom or Photoshop or whatever. Now, I know what you are thinking... You are saying, "Duh, that isn't a secret! I've been playing music during my shoots and post-production work already. Everybody does that." Well, that's not my secret. My secret is that I use vinyl or CD's, not iTunes or some internet-based music service. Why?

Reason number one... I can put on an album while shooting someone and find it's often a perfect length for a smaller shoot or a great length before a break is needed on a longer shoot. It's kind of like an egg timer for me. I lose track of things when I just have a clock to look at, but I can actually get a good feel for the pace of things as each song starts and then the album finally ends.

Reason number two... albums, especially vinyl, force me to get up and away from a computer screen on a regular basis. I've found that I'll sit for hours if I just have iTunes playing. Regular breaks to reset your eyes and stretch your legs can be very beneficial to the quality of your work. Being forced to get up and flip a record is great!

Reason number three... people generally love thumbing through a giant stack of albums while they are waiting for the shoot to start. They love touching them and pulling them out to look at the cover. You just don't get that same connection with an internet music service.

The only disadvantage is the amount of space (and the lack of a quick search feature, like a computer-based catalog) the physical music takes up. I have ten or twelve of the vinyl storage boxes (and a couple more on backorder with Light Impressions). I have almost an entire wall of CD's to deal with. They aren't in the way as much as the big vinyl, but it sure reduces the amount of wall space I have to hang pictures!