The miracle of accidents

There is nothing more frustrating than having plans go awry. There are those times when nothing goes right, one thing after the other is getting mixed up,  and then something magical happens. That's what happened today. I planned out this elaborate shoot for a magazine submission I wanted to do. It had an entire story line, wardrobe planned out and then...chaos. LOL. The model's car had troubles, we ended up nearly an hour off schedule, the lighting was off and then I just couldn't make the wardrobe fit with the vision in my head.  I was panicking inside about not getting the shots I needed, and my instincts were screaming for me to just go a whole different direction. I had to stop, calm myself and just listen to what my heart and eyes were trying to tell my head. And then, that's when everything started going right. Cristin started moving, the wind blew her hair around, and all of a sudden, the editorial was the last thing on my mind.  It's weird to say that inspiration struck, but really, that's how it felt. I no longer wanted to shoot 'Enchanted', but wanted instead to focus on her face. Cristin is one of the most expressive models I've had the pleasure to work with. So I scratched the video that I'd planned for weeks, nixed the wardrobe we put together and scrubbed her face of everything but a trace amount of make-up and started shooting. What we ended up with were shots that I'm in love with and an editorial that Reece and I decided to call 'Summer Winds.' The whole thing was really an accident and the result of a series of calamities. lol. The moral of this story is two sided, for photographers, don't force it. For models, be ready for anything. :) Thanks so much Cristin for putting up with the change of plans and really, thank you for feeding the muse. ;)  Here are my shots from 'Summer Winds'

Photogs have fun in front of the camera too!

So this weekend Tony Firpi from Devious Elements and I exchanged portraits. He did portraits of me and I, him. It was fun. We talked ideas, models, and he basically gave me tons of tricks and tips about photoshop and lighting that I didn't know. It was a good day, and I'm glad we met up. I was hella nervous and sooo close to chickening out. LOL. Tony is a natural behind the camera AND in front. Lucky for me, he was down to try whatever. We pretty much went through his closet and picked out something that would a mix of both our visions. I think it came out great.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the shoot. I think it showcases him as the playful and charming person his friends know him as, but also shows off his swagger.

Distant Obsession

Here is a look at the finished shots from my January behind the scenes post. Andrea did a great job. Looking at the images now, I've decided to do a new series. (If you're wondering, I've become obsessed with collections and series.) Anyway, I really liked the style I shot this editiorial in, so I'm thinking about doing a whole series of editorials in the style of an observer. No poses, just very candid and hopefully raw shots. the shoot I have planned is tentatively titled 'Enchanted'. I'm really excited about it. I'm still planning wardrobe for it and planning the images I want. During my winter break I've realized that if I want the shots to look like they are in my head, I have to really plan the looks out. I normally don't like to coach model, I sometimes find that it inhibits their natural movements and sometimes forces them into poses that don't look fluid. But the problem I've had is getting models out of posing and just moving. So with this series, I plan to work more on meticulously setting up my shots without losing the naturalness and fluidity. We'll see how it goes. But any who, sorry for the tangent, here are the images from Distant Obsession.