Walking into this project I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I'd seen plenty of pictures that displayed studio lighting in magazines, billboards etc.. but had never actually considered the process through which these pictures were captured I thought it would be simple. Set up a couple of lights, throw a friend in front of the lens and presto! Some beautiful pictures. That is not, in fact, the way this story goes. It took me countless days with numerous models to finally get into the groove of things. Moving around lights and models pro actively, and doing my best to not only follow the guide lines of the project and get an amazing studio lighting exemplar, but to also capture something more from my model - who were always someone dear to me.
These pals of mine put up with quite a lot as I fiddled with the camera, lights and their positioning time after time. Then finally, I realized I had taken a few photos I was quite happy with. The bottom 2 photos show my friend Ben. I have known Ben for years now and even work at the same café together where we endure countless weekends together. He is funny and kind and I have never known a person to smile such a genuine smile as often as Ben does. I wanted to capture that smile in a photo. More than anything. But once you throw someone in front of a camera with blindingly bright lights shining 15 inches from their face and you're telling them to "act natural", you tend not to get the result you anticipated. The photo of Ben in colour is our attempt at loosening him up in front of the camera. (He's also a goof). The second photo is that smile I mentioned. I was finally able to get him to flash it when I mentioned a good friend of ours who we haven't seen in a while. It was an instant success. It was originally shot in colour but something about the B&W really made this one pop for me.
The top photo of the adorable human is of my friend Theo. He has to be one of the funniest people I have ever met in my life. He can seem like kind of a bamf with the tattoos and spacers and such, but he is a sweetie. This is the side of him that we see in this photo. I love the contrast between the heathered shirt, gauged spacers, dirty 'stache and the beautiful flower tucked behind his ear combined with the look pure innocence blooming from his eyes. Simply wonderful.
Overall this project taught me patience. It taught me that if what you had originally planned isn't working out, EXPLORE. Try something new and different and spontaneous! It's how I managed to capture some of my favourite photos from the past month. It also taught me the obvious:how to move around, plan and utilize a studio environment. I really loved it all.
