Ella
That ^^^ means no flashy logos or daft graphics please!!
OK, shot number one from Ella. There's more to come...
Ella's new to modeling. I shot her over two days thanks to a friend getting in touch with her, and they were her first and second shoot. Doesn't show does it really? She's bright, young, smart as a tack, and too damned attractive for her own good. Simple as that really...
Except it isn't. What Ella did was bowl me over with how well she took to the whole modeling thing and having a big hairy ape photographing her. It helps that she's trying to get into it, and is approaching it from the right frame of mind of course, but she still made it very easy. I saw stuff that made her blissfully ignorant to hard and fast ways of doing shoots, and that's such a good thing. I genuinely think as she carries on, she'll not just become good, she'll become amazing.
I want to shoot her again.
And maybe kidnap her to shoot forever, along with Cat Rennie and a couple of others I've met. Yeah, that sounds good, I'll be in photo heaven forever! :-D
The thing that strikes me though, about shooting with beginners (and I do it a lot) is that although there's this lack of 'professionalism' (whatever the hell that is!?) and it's sometimes difficult to drop straight into poses as such, whereas an experienced model is just on the ball and it all works straight away, there's so many plus sides to it. Fresh ideas, no pre-conceptions, no agendas, not got to the stage where the whole 'get me, I know I'm gorgeous as all the world says so' attitude that sometimes happens. Just blissful innocence. And a purity in the photograph, that for me at least, makes achieving what I'm after much easier.
The downside? Well, it seems that frankly, a shit load of beginners go to some shady doors at times. Some dude gets his name in the Yellow Pages or something listing himself as a photographer, charging out low $'s for a portfolio shoot, and all that actually happens is some totally shit glamour-tastic vomit inducing crap in his garage (hey I can't knock that, I don't even have my own studio anymore! *cries*) which is a thinly disguised attempt to get some young lady out of her clothes for his gratification. And man, that pains me... I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard it, and it pains me even more to realise I hear it here in NZ more than the UK by a large amount. Seems there's a lot of cheap, untalented, sleazy buggers shooting in NZ today. And a lot of beginners get that.
There are few times I'll ever stand up and say 'get me, I'm fantastic I am' as I struggle to ever get that egotistical, but here's one. I take huge pride in the fact every model I've ever shot that was doubting her 'career' as such in modeling has carried on, and has loved what we did. There are a large amount of portfolios out there now going from strength to strength after I shot them, and got other decent photographers to notice how cool the model was. And many, many of the people I've shot are like friends now, not industry contacts. I take pride in that, not being 'that guy' from above, and being something more.
It helps make pictures like this. Real, honest, not shady. :-)
*steps down off soapbox and feels embarassed*
Ella
That ^^^ means no flashy logos or daft graphics please!!
OK, shot number one from Ella. There's more to come...
Ella's new to modeling. I shot her over two days thanks to a friend getting in touch with her, and they were her first and second shoot. Doesn't show does it really? She's bright, young, smart as a tack, and too damned attractive for her own good. Simple as that really...
Except it isn't. What Ella did was bowl me over with how well she took to the whole modeling thing and having a big hairy ape photographing her. It helps that she's trying to get into it, and is approaching it from the right frame of mind of course, but she still made it very easy. I saw stuff that made her blissfully ignorant to hard and fast ways of doing shoots, and that's such a good thing. I genuinely think as she carries on, she'll not just become good, she'll become amazing.
I want to shoot her again.
And maybe kidnap her to shoot forever, along with Cat Rennie and a couple of others I've met. Yeah, that sounds good, I'll be in photo heaven forever! :-D
The thing that strikes me though, about shooting with beginners (and I do it a lot) is that although there's this lack of 'professionalism' (whatever the hell that is!?) and it's sometimes difficult to drop straight into poses as such, whereas an experienced model is just on the ball and it all works straight away, there's so many plus sides to it. Fresh ideas, no pre-conceptions, no agendas, not got to the stage where the whole 'get me, I know I'm gorgeous as all the world says so' attitude that sometimes happens. Just blissful innocence. And a purity in the photograph, that for me at least, makes achieving what I'm after much easier.
The downside? Well, it seems that frankly, a shit load of beginners go to some shady doors at times. Some dude gets his name in the Yellow Pages or something listing himself as a photographer, charging out low $'s for a portfolio shoot, and all that actually happens is some totally shit glamour-tastic vomit inducing crap in his garage (hey I can't knock that, I don't even have my own studio anymore! *cries*) which is a thinly disguised attempt to get some young lady out of her clothes for his gratification. And man, that pains me... I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard it, and it pains me even more to realise I hear it here in NZ more than the UK by a large amount. Seems there's a lot of cheap, untalented, sleazy buggers shooting in NZ today. And a lot of beginners get that.
There are few times I'll ever stand up and say 'get me, I'm fantastic I am' as I struggle to ever get that egotistical, but here's one. I take huge pride in the fact every model I've ever shot that was doubting her 'career' as such in modeling has carried on, and has loved what we did. There are a large amount of portfolios out there now going from strength to strength after I shot them, and got other decent photographers to notice how cool the model was. And many, many of the people I've shot are like friends now, not industry contacts. I take pride in that, not being 'that guy' from above, and being something more.
It helps make pictures like this. Real, honest, not shady. :-)
*steps down off soapbox and feels embarassed*