The Sky Collector: Emily & Isa

Prior to my portfolio review with the photography program, Emily & Isa offered to do a shoot with me to add some newer photos into my portfolio. These were from the end of April and they're finally finished now that I have the stress of getting into school off my back. I'm more than grateful that they offered to be my models because my portfolio was horrendously outdated and I hadn't had any new work in months!

A few things I learned from this shoot:

1) When scouting locations prior to the shoot, think of exact poses and composition in the found locations OR scout with a partner. I went to the park to look around a few days ahead but I found that the area looks completely different when you put an actual person in the shot and having someone there would have been much more helpful in getting a better idea of how the shot would look.

2) Have a specific set of poses, looks, mood, and composition for each location and model. Most portrait photographers don't do this and don't advocate doing this and would normally go into a shoot with a general idea but not exact shot ideas (a workflow more akin to fashion photographers). BUT I think this would help me immensely. I tend to get flustered when trying to coordinate location, pose, composition, the settings on my camera, light, and focus all the while trying to make small talk and prevent awkwardness (something I'm not good at normally already).

3) Change up the angles! I didn't realize until afterwards that I had waaay too many close-up headshots and not nearly enough full body shots or shots of Emily & Isa together! I tended to shoot straight-on as well, either with them sitting or standing. With all the crazy ideas floating around in my mind, I definitely could have been more creative.

4) Assistants are ridiculously useful. I bossed Wilson around as our assistant for the day and he was such a help. As I said in point #2, I have trouble coordinating everything at once and so having someone carry all our bags, hold the reflector, hand me stuff, hold things into the shot, and ease my nerves was indispenable. I don't know how else I would have done it! Thanks Wilby!

Gotta learn from experience, right? I learned a whole lot from this solo shoot and maybe those points will help someone else in the same position. Here are some of the photos!