“Can I get some CC on this?”

Raise your hand if you’re in at least ONE photography group on Facebook. I’m guessing if you’re reading this, that there is a 99% chance that you are in one. At least. If I had to guess, I’d say I’m in twenty five-ish groups, and an admin in a dozen others. The main group I admin is the Collective FB group, with over 3k members. Not a supersized group by any means, but enough people that I get tagged asking for CC a handful of times a day.

I love helping other photographers this way.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s dive in to the do’s and don’ts of asking for CC in groups:

DO make sure to include what kind of CC that you’re asking for. Lighting? Posing? Edit? One of my biggest frustrations is when someone asks for “general CC” and after I’ve taken time to give CC on something specific, then they narrow it down to what exactly that they are looking for. In a perfect world, we would just do away completely with “general CC”!

DON’T make excuses/explain why you did XYZ after someone has taken time to help you. If you have a disclaimer, give it when you are asking. (i.e. “I know baby’s fingers should be unclenched, I tried and he wouldn’t budge) Because once I’ve responded with tips to fix, it’s better to respond with a “thank you” than an explanation of why it was this way or responded “I know, I couldn’t get it.” because that is telling me that you didn’t need my CC. Man, I hope I’m making sense here.

DO say thank you. Always. No questions asked. While it is technically my job to help in the groups I admin (part of the cost of the Collective includes personal help from me!), it’s still ridiculously time consuming and many of the other people giving CC aren’t being paid to help!

DON’T ask for CC when all you really want is a pat on the back. Most people can tell when a completely perfect image is posted asking for CC and everyone comments how gorgeous/amazing it is! Just own it, yo! I love when people post a stunning image and say they’re proud of it!

DO post the SOOC whenever you can…especially when you’re asking “How does this edit look?” because I have no idea what you’ve done edit-wise unless I see the SOOC. I don’t know what the baby’s skin tone should look like, the original color of the blanket, exposure, etc.

DON’T post on a weekend or after 3 pm if you’re specifically asking/tagging me. Like I said above, it’s part of my job to help you guys out, and I LOVE it, but I have pretty hard boundaries since I work my butt off during normal business hours, and for my mental health, I simply can’t be giving CC 24/7. Even when I comment, “Can you bump this during the weekday morning/afternoon hours?” can get tiring when multiple people are tagging me on weekends/evenings! So if you want to help me be a happy Rachel, remember that I’m a human and need off time! This also applies to holidays!

DO post your settings (aperture, shutter speed and ISO) along with what light source you’re using, and how close your subject was to that light source. Anyone in our private groups knows that this will be the first thing I ask before giving CC, so do yourself a favor and post it when you’re first asking!

DON’T feel bad bumping a post multiple times (during my working hours!) it honestly doesn’t bother me! I’m just not always by a calibrated computer for color checks, or for really long answers I’m not always able to type it all out to give you the best advice! So bump away and know that I’m never ever ever intentionally ignoring you!

DO let me know if you’re up for some harsh CC…possibly my favorite kind to give because, man, if you listen to what I’m trying to lay down, I promise it will be helpful! On the same note, let me know if you want gentle CC and I’ll go easy on you! I can say that I grew the most in my career when those who loved me were brave enough to tell me when my photos sucked and why!

DON’T post collages asking for CC, it’s really difficult to describe each and every image that you’re giving advice on, since not every image may need it. Instead, make an album so people helping you can go through and leave CC on the images that need it!

Whew! We’re done! I hope this is helpful to not only see how vital as much information as possible is, but that the actual advice that I’m giving can help everyone reading this blog! Just try to remember when asking for CC:

If you’re interested in learning from Rachel and other photographers around the world every month for only $35, become a member of our Collective family! More information can be found at www.therachelvanovencollective.com