Model Shoot: Crystal Friday, Oct 1 2010

The third model in my July shoot (besides Elizabeth and Diana) was Crystal, who put the whole thing together. That’s what she does; she’s very passionate about modeling and keeps coming up with ideas for shoots. I met her last December at a hangar shoot organized by a local photography club. She was one of about a dozen models I shot that day, but just about the only one who followed up with me afterward.

A few months later, she had an idea for a shoot at a cemetery near downtown Dallas. She did hair and makeup herself, and even showed up with a few props. We had a great time shooting, and she wasn’t afraid to roll around in her dress, make faces and try different things. The weather was chilly (it was February), and it even rained a little, but overcast sky was friendly to our portrait mission, as there was no harsh shadows.

Crystal organized the July shoot pretty quickly, with a few photographers and models she worked with before. Even though she had a studio shoot earlier in the day, she came prepared with a couple of outfits and lots of energy. Time got away from us quickly and I got to shoot with her again only briefly toward the end of the shoot. We were joking around and most good shots ended up being candids, like this one here. You can see a few more shots of her on my Flickr page and her Model Mayhem page.

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Model Shoot: Diana Sunday, Sep 26 2010

Here’s another set from a shoot I had with a few other photographers and models in downtown Dallas. The model is Diana Graves, who specializes in horror, fetish and alternative pin-up modeling. I’m normally a straight-forward portrait/headshot photographer, so I wasn’t really sure how to approach Diana’s unique look.

I caught a lucky break a few minutes into the shoot. It was late afternoon and the sun was close to the western horizon, so the light was very warm. As it bounced off a skyscraper, it caught her hair from behind, wonderfully enhancing its fiery red color. We worked with that a little bit, trying to find the best way to capture the flowing waterfall of red hair. I think this shot shows her fierce presence the best.

A little later in the shoot, when the sun was even lower, I tried using sunlight even more, with and without flash. It was a bit difficult to wrangle the harsh shadows, but I found that this shot looks very good, with Diana’s silhouette and the red mane dominating the frame.

Diana was very easy to work with and actually smiled quite a lot. Although I think smiles are usually great for portraits, her intensity was better used in different ways. Shooting with her made me work outside my comfort zone a little, but at the same time reminded me to quickly identify the model’s best features and build the set around them.

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