Securing A Model
With this shoot the first thing I did was seek out a reliable model who I have worked with on a previous shoot.
Enter stage right Samara. A talented young lady with a killer smile. I had worked with her a year or two earlier on the pic posted about and wanted to work with her again. So now I have the model in the can lets move on to step# 2, lets secure some help.
Securing Help
I preach in my last post about doing stuff on your own, well that's the major stuff like booking a model and hair and mua etc... Now to help with the nuts and bolts of carrying and helping you wrangle equipment and catch stuff that you can't see, and art direct :-) you most definitely could use a second set of hands. In comes Steven a brilliant second photographer and God send. Steven is an indispensable and invaluable friend, and photographer. You couldn't ask for a better friend or fellow photog to work with. Pardon Steven below as he's dealing with some really harsh mid day sun right now.
Having A Working Concept
So with experience with working with many models and combing the pages of model mayhem I have found that people like to have direction, a feel of where the shoot is going before they get on board. When I first started to seek out models the only direction I had is need pretty lady, bring light make picture. Ok, so maybe not so Neanderthal, but I just wanted to light and shoot never really thought of what to shoot or what I wanted the picture to say or express other then lets make some nice lighting.
So when looking for your inspiration to create a concept look at fashion or any magazines for that matter. Look around at whats going on in the world or in your personal life. What would you like your image to convey? What are you trying to say. In the case of this shoot I had come across a series of pictures with long blowing dresses or fabric. It then hit me that I wanted this type of infinite dress look and feel to the images. So I went about finding and looking at pictures creating a type of mood board to work with. This way I now had something visual for myself, the model and makeup artist.
Finding Someone To Bring Your Idea To Life
Now that I know what I had in mind the next step was to bring the dress/concept to life. This part can be tricky or expensive depending on which avenue you travel. It just so happens that I have a friend who is a wonderful up and coming designer check out her work if your in need of something custom or designed specifically for a shoot House of Iso . If your not lucky to have a designer I would checkout etsy your maybe able to find someone locally via craiglist or maybe a nearby fashion or design school. You may be able to find someone thrifty and just buy some fabric and have it shaped into a dress, anyway you try you should come out a winner just for the effort alone.
Securing Hair/Makeup Artist
I usually work with a great makeup artist who unfortunately was unavailable for the shoot. So I again let my fate lay in the hands of finding someone on model mayhem. This time I was however prepared to pay a few to insure that someone would almost indefinitely show up. I posted a few casting call and got nearly 20+ replys in about 2-3 hours. I can't really explain why I chose the makeup artist That I went with Mua Wendy ,but I think it was something in her reply that said take a chance, and I must say it was one well taken. Her work and willingness to get fully involved with every aspect of the shoot was far beyond my expectations. I think we all had a great time shooting this day as we formed a genuine bond. These are the type of relationships you need to try and form as a working creative. This way hopefully everyone can push one another and further advance everyone's cause. So now the dress is designed the makeup artist has an idea of what you have in mind and the actual wardrobe you are almost there.
Choosing A Location.
This dress shoot could have pretty much been pulled off anywhere, and was almost done at the beach, but I digress. However, when in a big city like Nyc try to choose the path of least resistance, central park. In Central park there are no worries of fines for putting down lightstands or looking like a professional shoot etc. No need to run and gun either. You can setup with little to know resistance and for the most part not to many on lookers as this is fairly typical in nyc.
Success & Failures During Shoot
One thing I learned from my old mentor Lou Garou Madart-LouGarou is that you really should take 5 to maybe 10 frames and move on. If you don't have the shot by then your probably not going to get it. You should move on to the next pose, location or look. I unfortunately neglected this rule. Partly because the plan I had in my head I did not right down and we had so much fun that we pretty much stayed in the same location for far to long. I initially planned to have some shots located by the castle in central park and a very thick wooded area, but we wound up staying around the opening shoot location. So, try to make a plan of the places and ideas you have in mind flesh it out on paper (old-school) or on a tablet etc.. and share it with your group so that you guys can stay on schedule.
For me failing to complete all of the shooting locations and fleshing out all of the ideas I had in my head was the biggest failure. But again, the knowledge that I gained from everything the shoot did not accomplish was a success. Before I continue to go on and on becoming ever so long winded I will end here and post some pics from the shoot.
Please keep shooting, learning developing and growing in your craft and all that you do.
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| The Endless Dress |
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| The Endless Dress |
