Some of you guys might notice that I've been busy working on an editorial. I had 1 week to prepare everything from laying out concepts, getting designers garments, contact model/makeup artist, find location and it was a super rush, super tight schedule. So one week, with limited budget.
Tip #1: get to the location yourself or get them to take photos for the prep. I learned this the hard way - when I had to change the location one day before the shoot, so you don't have to.
Expect changes (lots of changes). 99.99% of the time things don't go according to plan so be anticipative and have a plan b, c and so forth. This is no joke, I had makeup artist/cameraman calling in about rescheduling a night before the shoot. 2 days earlier the agency rescheduled my model's flight so she had to fly out sooner than expected. Tip #2: be anticipative and expect to manage a certain level of damage control.
At the end of the day you've given out all your best-est but there will be disrespectful people who just won't recognize your hard work. This is an outside factor - there's nothing controllable about it. So pad yourself in the back and move on. I was praised: "worst organization ever" after being in the middle of the a hobo fight and trapped inside that bus the gang was on when I was on my way to go see the first location myself.
Tip #3: get help! Seriously, you can't do everything by yourself. I won't do it again if I have to go through it alone. It's drainage and SAP-ish. So go get help from your fellow workmanship.
I hope these tips help one way or another.
