simona
Simona was my first shoot in my Walthamstow studio. It was one of the first times where I had models coming to me and expecting to be shot properly. For that reason I was a little intimidated by her. She was nice, but not too chatty.
I also hadn’t figured out my usual shooting patterns like I did within a couple months of being in the space. For that reason the shoot went ok, but feels a little disconnected. I honestly can’t remember who did the makeup, but they did a great job which really helps. Simona also had quite the bitchy model resting face which I think scared me at the time. I shouldn’t have been scared really but I remember her asking me where I had been published and when I didn’t have any big names I could feel her check out of the shoot.
Still we got some nice stuff. She was happy to do stuff in her bra, my first time photographing a woman that naked. Kinda scary, kinda fun. I even got her to leave the jeans open. This probably helped me learn that models will do go quite far with nudity sometimes, as long as it serves the image and makes them look better. I remember giving her the direction to push her shoulders into the wall and have her arms dangling because I’d seen it on some fashion advert the night before. It does work to be honest.
Our last set up was on the floor where we spread her hair out and I shot her top down. I framed the jeans out to give there illusion she wasn’t wearing them, and went from there. I was quite happy with these although looking back they’d be 10X better if she was laying on soft bedding rather than a stark poly board. Regardless, I got my shot. I asked for it, and I got it.
