"Do your re-shoot now"

As a photographer, I know that it's very difficult to walk away from an assignment with the "perfect" shot. Photographers are their own worst critics, and usually find fault or room for improvement in their images. Sometimes you wish you could just start over with a photo shoot and create the image you should have gotten. I watched a lecture by renowned professional photographer Joe McNally and he made the comment that he prefers to do his re-shoots now. In other words, don't kick yourself later when editing your photo shoot. Get the shots you really want now, before leaving the job. It reminded me of a photo shoot about a dozen years ago where a manager hired me to photograph a band for some promotional material. They rented a club in L.A. and wanted "live" shots of them playing onstage. Well, without an audience, there's just not the same vibe as a real live show. I took the shots they requested, but felt like there was room for something more creative. So I asked the band to go upstairs into the dingy old billiard room and gather around the pool table. I liked the mood created by the small tungsten lights hanging from the ceiling, so I didn't add any supplemental lighting. A few puffs of smoke from a band member's cigarette floated across the table, and I had the shot that ended up being everyone's favorite.