Join me for a sneak peek behind the scenes of what it took to create "A sultry Summer."
As a photographer and shoot producer, I envisioned "A Sultry Summer" to celebrate the edgy, desirable, and colourful spirit of women during the season of summer in London Town.
Being a summer baby, born July 19th, I have a special love for the season. I gathered an amazing creative team to bring my vision to life. I cherish the late sunsets, BBQs and the vibrant, outgoing energy of the people. Summer is when a woman's true beauty shines, reflected in the sun, glistening with fresh hairstyles, the scent of new perfume and the opportunity to show off our best summer outfits.
THE MOOD BOARD
Lately, I've felt a lack of creativity in my beauty shoots. As a Black Caribbean woman, I have a strong appreciation for colour, culture, music, food and art. I wanted to reflect these elements in my work with a high fashion twist. Incorporating subtle hints of my heritage. This summer I really wanted to capture brown skin in a unique way, I wanted to feature models with interesting hairstyles and make up looks.
Did I achieve that ? Maybe, maybe not.
A mood board serves as a visual representation of how you want your shoot to look and feel. It gives the creative team a clear focus, ensuring all team members have a shared understanding of the vision. My mood boards are usually five pages long and includes details on lighting, colour schemes, poses, fashion styling and more. It's best to share a single page of your mood board during the scouting process, to attract the right people, then share the full mood board once you have everyone on board.
Now, let's move on to the next step: Scouting.
SCOUTING
Whether you're a shoot producer, photographer or just curious about what it takes to deliver a successful shoot, I recommend hiring professionals and reaching out to them on a collaboration basis. Share your ideas and pick whoever resonates with you.
If you're just starting out, it would be more beneficial to work with a creative team that are also starting out. Collaborating with people on the same level as you, helps you manage expectations. You don't want to find yourself in a compromising position where you can't deliver quality images due to team members lacking knowledge in their role or feeling undervalued.
Award winning make up Artist: Touched by Racheal
Racheal reached out to me, as she was fond of my mood board. After reviewing her portfolio, I was impressed by her eye shadow techniques and knew she would be able to deliver. When working with make up artists, I always give them the freedom to elevate the look and experiment. I want everyone to do their best and feel proud of the images we create together.
Scouting Models
Right: Lauren Birdie. Left: Patricia
You can find models by contacting agencies, joining model Facebook groups, or posting on @assistingworks, an instagram account dedicated to creatives in London, Paris and Italy. I first worked with Lauren, a professional model, during a collaboration shoot in 2021. The pictures turned out amazing, and what impressed me the most was her confidence. She didn't need any direction because she knew how to pose and work the camera effortlessly. She made my job very easy.
When Patricia, an aspiring model, reached out to me, I initially wasn't available as I had booked a Latin brown aspiring model. I mentioned this because my vision was to create more beauty shoots featuring diverse people I hadn't worked with before; diversity is extremely important to me. However, the model I hired stopped responding to my emails, which I found really disrespectful, It was a last minute change, but despite Patricia having no portfolio or modelling experience based on her instagram, I liked her polaroid image (the one above) and believed I could direct her effectively. She was delightful to work with, very humble and punctual. The pictures came out amazing and she should be proud of herself.
EXPERIMENT
One thing I love about collaborative shoots is the opportunity to experiment. In our studio, I noticed some foil and some light white fabric and thought they would make interesting fashion items. Here's an example of Lauren posing with the foil. I love it. It not only gives a high- fashion feel but also represents summer in London. Sometimes we don't get heat waves; our summers can be cold and rainy. I think this foil and this look brings a different vibe that I really like.
CREATING A VIBE
Photoshoots can be exhausting, especially when they stretch into the evening. Setting the right mood is important. You want to create an atmosphere that energises and elevates everyone. It's important to create a positive vibe with uplifting music that tells a story, helping models escape their daily stresses and fully immerse in the moment.
Thank God our model Lauren is also an island girl who loves soca music. Take a look a video below
WHAT'S NEXT ?
Stay tuned for the upload of the images from A Sultry Summer on Tuesday 13th August. You'll get to see the final results and experience what it means to have a sultry summer, possibly accompanied by some poetry.
SHOOT PRODUCER
Although I am a portrait specialist, I also like to consider myself a shoot producer. I absolutely love producing and planning shoots, enjoying both the administrative process and overseeing the shoot as well as photographing it. If you would like me to produce one of your shoots, please feel free to message me. I offer consultations to discuss prices and packages.
I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek behind the scenes of a photoshoot.
Comment below your thoughts, feelings and questions.
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