alexandra
This is where is all began. Well kinda. This is the first shoot I did when I first made the jump into freelance life. 23rd of March 2019. I’d finished working at Motel Studios, but after being their so long it felt right to start things there. One of the many skills I learnt as a Studio Manager was how to built and canvas flats. Flats are big, heavy walls, usually 9ft high by 12ft wide or more. I’d built and made a few in my time for countless other photographers. Often staying at work late to do multiple coats on a set after the crew went home. So fuck it, it’s my turn to use them.
I didn’t really know anyone working at my level at this point , by that I mean no makeup artists, stylists, models etc. It’s the horrible part where you have big ideas, but not the talent or crew to pull them off. So when a celebrity stylist with whom I’d worked with before for my previous boss made it clear she would help me out, I took her up on the offer. She offered to pull in a hair stylist who she also worked with a lot. Turns out he’d been working professionally since before I was even aware of what a camera was. Finally she booked a model with a large agency in London to come down. Looking back at it, she put a whole shoot in my lap.
I built the set as I had a many times for others, only this time I didn’t mind because it was my turn to play with these white walls. I kept the lighting simple, a big wall of white poly board with a fork on top to create a box of light 45 degrees camera right. But the key part was the small dimpled silver brolly fired across the front of the scene. Barely even angled at the Alexandra, it caused the most simple, almost daylight light.
It’s weird to think where I might be without this shoot It came right as I needed the confidence that, with the right team, I could “do” a real photoshoot. I knew I could assist on one, but could I do one. Answer - Yes. Rachel was happy, so was hair. The agency emailed me and said I could use girls from them if I wanted. I barely even knew what that meant.
Thank you Rachel Gold. I will never forget how you made me feel like a real photographer that day. You gave me the confidence to keep going.
