I'll admit. I haven't done any paid photography since December 2022. It's been slow. But I've also been incredibly busy making ends meet. I don't make any apologies for that. You got to do what you got to do. And making sure you don't starve or keep a roof over your head takes priority. And I wasn't in a very good state of being the last 6 months to do good work. So it's okay. It will work out.

However, not only have things started to ease up, I have a shoot coming up! Photographing a model's comp card. It's a marketing piece to send to agencies and other for job opportunities. Should be fun and best of all: paid! 

But I need practice. Badly. The thing also is, you need to be ready to play. You got to be ready when you're called off the bench. One of my cameras had been sitting around for so long, it lost all it's settings. The internal battery emptied out. I felt rusty. Off. So, I hurried to get some practice.

Getting A Handle on Things

As I mentioned, I felt rusty. I needed to work on my basics. Getting a feel for the camera. Checking my settings. Composing the shot. Don't underestimate the basics. I was a competitive athlete for years. After a layoff, you're going to be off. You need to go easy and build up. Or, your form will be off. You'll be susceptible to injuries. You need a strong base.

So I started with one of my hobbies: street photography. Easy. Low pressure. I can mix it up a lot. A little bit of everything.

The Models

But street photography is a whole other world than photographing a model. But I have a little ace of my sleeve: I'm a natural at it. I may be a bit rusty with the technicals of photography. But directing. Angles. Ideas. That's always there.

I put out a casting call and got some really fantastic models responded. Due to my budget, I could only afford two of them. And quite frankly, I got incredibly lucky. I did a pre-search before putting out a casting call. A couple of my favorites that I saw responded. Score! Both with EMG Models in New York City. I'm beginning to really love the models from that agency. Real workers. I've worked with other models from there before. 

Anastasia

One of the best I've worked with. Incredibly organized. Communicative. Just a peach to work with. There are very few I'd put in the same category with her.  Which is probably she's also one of the busiest models I've ever met. She certainly has a great look. But she's earned it. We did three looks but it was this sequence that was so perfect. It reminded me of a sunglasses ad. There are more pics but these are by far my favorite.

Where do I start with the problems I had? The batteries to my flashes were having issues. Basically, they were so old that they took an extra long time to recharge after a shot. The 90 degree heat that day didn't help. But then again, I would use natural light when the lights were acting up. Improvised. 

"You're only as good as the people you work with". And Anastasia really did that for me. She was a real trooper. Love these images. Such a pleasure to work with.

Anna

Anna is a bit different than the type of model I typically shoot. I totally see her as one of those high-fashion types. I think about 5'11. Probably a size 2. She had fairly minimal makeup for our shoot. But I would imagine if you put some makeup on her and do her hair...  Wow! It took a while as I kept looking at her pic..  But she reminds me of Karly Kloss. A brunette version.

So what issues did I have with this shoot you say? Batteries. Again. I tested the batteries after the last shoot and thought it must have been the heat that was affecting them. No. it wasn't. They were just too old. But it was so bright and with Anna wearing what she was and locations, didn't need much external lighting. So it worked. It was also incredibly windy. Hair was all over the place. 

But again, Anna was super. Women and girls think it's all about being pretty. It's not. You don't even have to be traditionally pretty. A certain look will start things out. Then, what your angles are. Posing. And something most women can't do: emote.

Practice Makes Perfect?

I'm not 100%. I don't think I'm quite back to where I was before the dry spell. But, the creative juices are flowing. I'm getting excited about shoots. However, my technical skills are in much better shape from when I started all this practice. I worked out the kinks in my gear. 

I got new batteries!