another model and a some collaboration

Last week I did another shoot with a model I scouted from university, Hettie. I noticed her in topshop in town and once I'd found her on Facebook I messaged her asking if she could model and she agreed straight away due to the fact that the shots would highly benefit her portfolio. I have found that as my image style is so high fashion and fitting for the modelling industry it has become a lot easier to recruit models than I expected. Hettie said to me on the shoot that she doesn't feel like she's wasting her time on the shoot and doesn't mind shooting for free when the image out come will be worth her while. It wasn't until we had gotten into the middle of the shoot that I realised Hettie was already with a small agency in London. This made me feel really privileged to be working with her as she also said that she doesn't often say yes to people when they ask her to model. 

On this particular shoot also, I chose to collaborate with a new photographer Analise Trotter. I had worked with Anni before in second year on a small shoot for a friend so I wanted to get back in contact with her in order to obtain a bit of variety between my shoots. I was obviously a bit nervous about the shoot as I was unsure of Anni's approach to shooting and how strong her skills are now from last year however I was pleasantly surprised! Anni works very technically and likes to have everything set up perfect. For Hettie's shoot we used two lights with umbrellas and  one beauty dish face on to the model with the camera on a tripod to make sure all the images were perfectly focussed, this way the shots were exactly how we needed them and all we had to worry about was the model and her poses. 

Here are a couple of my favourite images from the shoot:

The shoot consisted of three looks much like all the other shoots. The first one being simple, the second slightly more accessorised (with the headband in the images above) and the third being more editorial and stylised.

The third look was a real favourite of mine as I loved Hettie's eyebrows and took advantage of their thickness by brushing them upwards. Here are a few shots of the third look:

The look was shot with full length and also close up images so there was opportunity for beauty shots and also body shots. I really exaggerated the contouring and key facial features in this look as I wanted to make it punchy and strong. I also see the opportunity to change some of the images to black and white which is another reason why I exaggerated the makeup as it will stand out a lot more in the black and white shots.

I was really pleased with how the shoot with Hettie went. The shoot was one of the easiest and most laid back I had ever done as I hardly had to give Hettie any direction about her posing. It is clear to me that when using models who are with agencies, even if they are small ones, you guaranteed the shots you need with ease and without complication as the model knows how to work her body efficiently.

Also, from this shoot I learned that I should be more confident about working with different photographers and push to collaborate with other professionals more often. Anni's friend Sophie helped out on the shoot that day Sophie is an aspiring stylist and designer. I found that the shoots become more diverse and there is always a new person's opinion in the team which could pick up on inspiring ideas that others might not have. I really enjoyed working with Anni and will definitely shoot with her and Sophie again soon.  As a result of this collaboration also, I was able to recruit Sophie to style for me on my next planned shoot and also feature some of her customised Sunglasses in my shots. I can now feature her in an interview in the magazine as a stylist and designer and have guaranteed future work with her. A highly successful shoot! 

My next shoot is with another Solent student and also agency signed model, Caroline Raymond. I will be shooting with Anni and Sophie for this also and have a really good feeling about the shoot.