This was the first photo shooting for Marianna and I must say it went very good for a first timer. The main object of the photo shooting was to . take some stock-related photographs and give Marianna the chance to familiarize with being in front of the camera. Needless to say that it went very good and she showed true professionalism (and even beyond that, to a point I had to stop her!!).
We got up early in the morning and headed to a part of the beach somehow remote to avoid the questioning bathers. The weather was nice, but the lighting was yellowish and so contrasted, that I had to over process the photos for lighting for a long time afterwards, until I managed the shadows the way I wanted and brightened the colors enough.
We got up early in the morning and headed to a part of the beach somehow remote to avoid the questioning bathers. The weather was nice, but the lighting was yellowish and so contrasted, that I had to over process the photos for lighting for a long time afterwards, until I managed the shadows the way I wanted and brightened the colors enough.
We started with some stock photographs so that she could relax and understand what the first part of the photo shooting was all about: relaxing! That was no big problem for her as she seemed to follow my instructions and understand where to look and how to stand. We experienced some technical difficulties with the lack of a second person and a reflector to fill the shadows, which I really think it would improve the overall outcome.
The hot sun was a very difficult obstacle as it caused us both to squint and get frustrated when we could not just hit the expression we wanted. During this time however, I watched Marianna grow from someone who couldn't understand how to stand or where to look being her first time, to a professional person who did exactly as expected. Her confidence grew to a point where I was truly amazed by the ease she changed her poses one after the other without me saying a single word.
There is much work to be done with Marianna, we are constantly working on new ideas and all there is left, is the time and place to make our plans happen. Having studied how to stand and where to look, the room for ideas and concepts is constantly growing on her side. The only drawback is that, even though we are full with new ideas, we are not living in the same city and we have to wait until summer time vacations, so our bright ideas will have to wait. Having known Marianna for a long time, I can surely say that she has transformed from a plain photo enthusiast to a person that can stand in front of the camera, after some time passes and she gets familiar with the idea she will be working with.
I can almost predict these last photo shootings (winter and summer) are not going to be her last work and I look forward to shooting many more "rolls of film" with her. We both have the ideas flushing out and the desire to make many more concepts come to life and for now we are just noting them down...
I also have to mention that after we packed and headed to the car, we were stuck in the sand and we had to be pulled out! So, now I know that we must never-ever park our cars over sandy surfaces! I guess this was the highlight of the day, the thing we will remember for this photo shooting.
