Photography & Etiquette

Hi, I’m Collins,

Yellow Weld’s Creative Director, photographer, and sometimes fabricator. I've been working as the social media manager and creative director at Yellow Weld since 2021 and I’m here to talk to you about my personal methods on easing into photographing and recording the people you work with on a daily basis, and the ways to make the process more comfortable for everyone. Let's get into it…

Unless you're cripplingly introverted or just hate communicating with other brains in meat mechs, the first thing you should do when starting out at any new job is get to know the people you're working with. In some jobs this isn’t all too important, but for others such as media and marketing, getting to know the people you’ll be working with and at times photographing or recording is paramount. Now I’m not saying you should take things incredibly far. At least not at the start. We don’t need to get right into the nitty-gritty of someone’s life, like trying to find out if they have a crazy ex, or that they’ve got wild family issues, or deep dark secrets. I’m talking about the simple stuff like “how are you doing today?” or “what kind of hobbies do you have?” even asking them what they’re working on and showing interest in them in general is a good place to start. Ya know, very normal things that a totally normal and not at all weird person would be asking another totally normal person. We should want everyone around us to feel comfortable with our presence and as you ask your very normal questions, have your camera with you but don’t take any photos unless the moment is too good to let go.

Why not shoot if the opportunity comes up?

Well, you obviously can if you want to, but we’re gaining trust here, and in my experience, having a camera creates a bit of an obnoxious barrier. The moment someone sees that your camera is at the ready, they might tense up, or feel like they need to, in some way, perform a specific way. Think of it like the scene in Talladega Nights when Ricky Bobby is getting interviewed and he says “I’m not sure what to do with my hands”. That is exactly the type of feeling you want to avoid. Being in front of a camera should become a casual thing for anyone you’re trying to focus on. Getting to that level of comfort is a whole lot easier to reach when there isn’t a lens immediately in someone’s face. We want to help the subject understand that they don’t have to be doing something interesting every single time the camera is at the ready, so to do that, we don’t jump right in on taking photos and we let them become used to us through Gaining Trust and Building a Relationship.

Once they’ve become more comfortable with you they’ll open up to photos more because you’ve shown them that they can be vulnerable and that your intent is not to show them in a bad light, document their mistakes, or “catch them slippin’” (as the kids say), but you genuinely want to capture them as they are. You’ve shown your intent is good, and they have nothing to worry about. They can be vulnerable, and goofy, and that makes for even better interactions to photograph. This is where we want to be. However, there may be times when you get a photo of someone you love, but they might not care for it. So what do you do? Obviously use it in every possible instance you can. Throw this particular photo on Instagram and Facebook, and turn them into the poster child of your company to show the world that this goober is exactly what represents the company.  …I’m kidding, don’t do that. They’ll be very mad and you’ll be reset to square one.

This is where we need to make sure we’ve got Clear Approval to use the photos.

But I’m still keeping those photos in my blackmail folder. Ya know, just in case somebody goes and gets froggy and I gotta put em in their place.

Since I've started here, and really anywhere I’ve worked as a photographer, I’ve gotten a lot of outtakes. The ugly photos where someone’s mid-blink, actively picking their nose, or is contorted into an odd position while they’re just trying to get that last damn weld done. In these situations, it’s important to ask permission from that person to use any photos you’ve gotten that may be, in their opinion, compromising. It’s not necessary, but it helps keep that confidence in you as a trusted photographer and lets them know that they have a say in how they’re presented online. A great example of this type of situation was when one of our guys, Joey, had to get photos of an install on his own with our 360-degree camera. Although he was trying to hide behind the camera to get a good shot, the lens on the other side still caught him in the process, making for some very funny, but potentially embarrassing pictures where he was extremely distorted. So before putting the pictures out into the world, I showed them to him and asked if he’d be okay with me using them. I didn’t push for them to be used, but thankfully he gave his consent. Even though I wasn’t required to ask his permission, I still did. Lawfully, I didn’t have to ask permission from him, but morally, I needed to create a better bond with him and keep his trust as a teammate. I’ve had thousands of outtakes in my time, and with each one, I asked permission to use them. Some get the okay, but many get a no-go. It’s just the way of the photo game. 

No matter how comfortable you and your team become, you should always consider the possibility that they might not want to be bothered on a given day or during a given project. Sometimes issues arise, and people get frustrated. This is normal, and it’s something you should eventually be able to sense, and back away from. Everybody has their own issues that come up at work, and sometimes leaving people alone is better than trying to get that one cool shot.

Our end goal is to get ourselves to a point where we don’t always have to ask to take a photograph. We want to reach the point where there is a mutual understanding that their photo is going to be taken, but they can trust you as the photographer to not post anything incriminating or embarrassing. In many instances, I don’t even have to say anything to the team. I stop in, make it known that I'm in the room with my camera, and get to work shooting. Everyone should stay relaxed just as they were before you stepped in, and continue interacting as though you’re just a regular person in their space. Although I have free reign of the shop, as the fabricators have free reign of the office, I don’t consider this as a qualified license to take whatever images I please. There’s still a needed respect for anyone's personal space, and understanding that one person might be open to photos at any given moment, but another may need to be left alone when facing their own difficult work. It’s on them to let me know these things, but also my objective to recognize when it isn’t wise for me to encroach on their space.

Get to know your team, be respectful, and remember that the relationship you build with the people is just as important as getting good shots.