These images were a product of a shoot that happened in early 2020, literally a few days before the state went into lockdown over covid19.
Sometimes a shoot is planned for the purpose of seeking publication, sometimes publication just happens as a byproduct. This was the latter, and we submitted the images after reviewing the shoot and felt we had something with legs on it (pun intended.)
Throughout the shoot, I was impressed with how easily Gemini could break herself out of the rhythm of the photoshoot and just move fluidly. I give lots of direction when I shoot in order to keep building momentum to the point where the movement does become fluid and effortless, and the facial expressions match the body movement. But here, that wasn't me, that's all her and I got to just shut up and shoot.
My approach much of the time when I am shooting stills, is to treat it as if I were shooting video. Letting the model move, constantly re-framing and knowing when to go back and run through a series of motions again, and again, and again... so many of the magic moments aren't beginning or the end of a pose or an expression, they're somewhere in the middle. It's not my job to direct the moment, but to direct the events that lead to the moment happening on its' own.
One drawback to this style of workflow is that I end up with a lot of frames. Sometimes a LOT of frames. My batting average is pretty high, so that means a lot of viable images to select from, and it can be tough to cull the batch down from 1500-2000 frames on a 4 look shoot, down to 10 per look, or 5, or 1. I probably throw out more images on a shoot than some photographers shoot in a month. But you don't need 400. More of a good thing just waters down the message when you trying to say something in a picture. One great "hero" frame is enough. Then, I select a few images that go with as "supporting cast" and help tell the story, therefore upping the page count.
It was right after this shoot that things shut down. It was really crappy timing as I had so many things in the pipeline with shoots, publications, podcasting, and things came to a full tilt stop. I've shot sporadically throughout the rest of the pandemic but it's only recently that I've really poured on the gas again. It is however like riding that proverbial bike, and in the handful of shoots I've scheduled in the last month or two everything been firing on all cylinders. I've got new publications already coming out, and several more in the works. I'm excited to be shooting new work both for my own artwork, and for clients who aren't models, but want an alternative to traditional "boudoir" photography. If that sounds like you, reach out via the contact page on my website!
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