Well... it's been a long time since my last shoot. I've had some issues with communication lately, meaning not a lot has been planned. However, I put out a casting call on Model Mayhem and got a few responses, so that was uplifting.
One of them was the model for this shoot, Stephanie. I did mention that she would have to cover my travel costs as it was stated that would be the case in the original Casting Call; however, she said she couldn't afford to do it as she's a student. I was slightly dissapointed but carried on anyway, until I remembered that I did actually have a day in London on the 18th, I contacted her and she said she was available! Hurrah.
She mentioned the themes she'd like to do were Film Noir and Steampunk... which I mentioned that I had planned anyway and didn't want to be repetitive; however, I was more than happy to a shoot with the themes present. She seemed happy with this, and so I put together a moodboard of the clothes I'd like her to bring along. I then went on holiday and was unable to find an MUA in time for the shoot, however, with the references I gave her, she did her own excellent look. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better interpretation.
So enough about the planning. The day itself was great! I was staying with my friend Becca (who was my assistant on the last shoot) so I wasn't too far away; and I handy consultant about ideas and locations. On the day of the shoot, I did get into a little bit of a panic as I felt it hadn't been planned enough. However, I calmed down on the way to the shoot and started to get excited to shoot again.
The day was incredibly hot, and I was constantly apologising to her as she had to wear leather for every look we did. After the first look, we were both exhausted from the heat, so I bought us both some water and ice lollies; we instantly felt better. We also both spotted that the ice lollies had 50% of your RDA of Vitamin C, so we basically agreed that we needed to have 2 of these for breakfast at some point so we get our full RDA of Vitamin C in the morning, with ice lollies.
I felt the need to say that because of how funny and relaxed the model was, we actually had a laugh during the shoot. Which of course, made it a fun experience.
Okay so the shoot kinda ended up going two ways in terms of results. It was either similar to our original concept (vaguely film noir-ish, with some classic Hollywood thrown in) or kinda going off into the fantasy realm. It really depended on the location and the lighting really; and both did seem to go hand in hand a lot. When we were in the more high class looking areas, the lighting was more direct and gave a more striking look (I'd also forgotten my reflector, not sure whether I actually pulled a silly and forgot it or whether I never considered it because of the lack of assistant); which made it a bit more of a high class fashion look. There was a bit of an issue with the lighting be unflattering at some point, but editing sorted that out.
However, when we would wander into the park, we got more natural looking locations; where the lighting was much softer and suited the sort of fantasy look well. Also, some of the shots got some pretty surreal colours on them; I think it was because I was shooting into the sun so I was getting a HUGE flare. But anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE lens flares, and I loved what it did to the colours. So I obviously picked up on this in editing and did both looks; some had a more in-between look.
High Class Fashion Look
Fantasy Look
I like a selection from both really, my favourites are an odd mix really. But overall, I'm happy with the results of this shoot. It was a great day and I would love to work with the model again.
