Less talk, more flash!
That’s another way of phrasing it. I have wanted to do a photoshoot only for portraits for a while, but there was always something: no models, no time, no gear, no space, …
Why? In a nutshell? I need the practice!
Finding people willing to sit and support me on my learning journey
A few weeks back, I decided enough procrastination was enough, so I set up a simple registration page: one-hour slots—free of charge. Do what you want if I can make portraits of it. I sent invitations to friends via WhatsApp and asked them to register from the available slots.
Eight people registered, and two had to cancel, leaving me with a small but diverse group of friends willing to go for the experiment.
Lessons learned (in regards to finding people)
Knowing my subjects had certain advantages, but I would not tell the truth if I didn’t mention that knowing your model can also introduce issues.
While I am sure it is possible to get a good photo from almost anyone, it is not that I don’t like the result; only some models fit some idea. Also, my suggestion to have models think about key emotions and try them out could have worked better. Overall, they expected that I would tell them what to do. None of them are professional models. Fair enough.
How should they know if I don’t tell them what I want? For future workshops, I need to communicate precisely what I intend to do, and by doing so, I can turn the models into contributors. I had played with the idea of mood boards, but then I forgot. I should make those a fixed tool in the process.
For the next time, I think it would help if I described a theme, looked for suitable models, and then worked with the models to determine how to achieve this in the best possible way.
All in all, I am happy with the outcome, and most of all, I am grateful to my friends who patiently sat with me and helped me through this session.
In one of the following posts, I will write about the gear. Stay tuned!