She arrives with stunning hair and camera ready make-up. She arrives with outfits designed to make you look twice...or more. She catches your eye and take your breath away. Her smile is genuine and she is happy to be working, not all grumbly and grouchy...or should we say...bitchy, like many models.
Luna has the graceful moves and confidence in the moment. She IS all that she can be and she is fully prepared with all the tools of the models trade to surprise you with excellence in modeling.
Luna also has confidence in the future. She know that her continued work WILL pay off. It isn't a matter of luck to her. It's a matter of discipline, dedication and hard work. Hard work, by the way, that is an awful lot of fun.
Speaking of confidence, it's great to now that she has confidence in me. It makes working together so much easier knowing that she trusts my decision making. I like to do things on the fly...spontaneous and impromptu. That's the way I connect with the dynamic energy of the Universe!
Luna is also a pleasure to work with because she can roll with the punches. Take today's shoot at the Lehigh Valley Gran Prix for example. Due to an unforeseeable scheduling conflict, we only had a few hours to shoot. As a result, I wasn't able to follow through on my original plan, so I headed over to the Queen City Airport to shoot her up alongside of some small planes. Maybe if we got lucky we'd find a pilot who would let us get some shots in the cabin or the cockpit. I've never had a problem there before, but things are changing rapidly with airport security and we didn't get 'authorization' today. Not a problem; on to Plan B.
Plan B was less than a mile away at the Lehigh Valley Gran Prix. It's a neat little indoor go-cart racing track with lots of colorful walls and cool gear. I had been in there before. The folks are friendly and big on customer service.
I pulled into the lot. Before we went inside, I asked Luna to pose outside by the big black & white checkered wall (not pictured here).
This was to serve two purposes: 1) to get some good shots, but more importantly, 2) to get Luna relaxed, comfortable with the location and into the action-dynamics of modeling & shooting.
The last thing I wanted was to get her inside and have her freeze up. Squeezing off a few shots outside set the stage and the mindset to get things done inside. No one was around to distract her.
Once inside, we strolled up to the front desk, Luna clearly looking like a MODEL and NOT just some chick off the street.
"Can I help you?" the guy at the counter asks. "We don't want to ride, we just want to get a few photos in one of the cars for some local web sites". I reply, adding that, "You will get full credit. Thank you!"
"I don't understand..." the guy stammers.
"Not a problem", I answer. "We just need to get a few photos with the model in the race car. It'll just be a few minutes".
" Oh!", now he gets it. I can't let you in right now", he says. My heart sinks. Then he says, "The next race is over in ten minutes. I can get you in then. Just wait right here."
Hooray! Someone who can think for himself and make competent decisions! Congrats to you! So we sit in the comfortable waiting lounge. Never one to sit still for very long, I direct Luna to pose on the checkered winners platform (above). This keeps her mind and body in the posing dynamic. It keeps things moving and keeps her psyched because she is actively modeling... not sitting around and waiting for something. And I'm getting pictures.
The race is over. A cool dude w long curly hair in a bandana motions us in to the track. Luna's jeans are so tight she can hardly get into the car. She tries to tell me she wants to shoot standing alongside the guardrail. I tell her no. That's what we've been waiting for. She has to get into the cart. It's a funny bit of a struggle but she manages to squeeze into the cart. And she look good. Click. Flash! Click Flash! Ahhh! It's all worthwhile.
Luna surprises me again by suggesting some cool shots with the tire. I ask her to put a high-heeled foot on the rubber. She has a hard time getting her leg up. Tight jeans. I give her a hand. We get the shot. Then we get back inside the waiting area.
I head directly over to a bright yellow wall. She follows and knows pretty much what I want. She assumes a few poses. I get a few shots. I point to the green door. I ask her to fill the frame. "The door is the frame", I tell her. "You are the picture. Fill the frame." I then tell her to pretend she is climbing up the door. "Don't actually climb it", I say. "Pretend you are climbing it".
She is really good at following my directions and I manage to get some very nice shots of her in various poses.
Inside one of the rooms was a long empty table against a wall. "Go lay on the table", I told her.
She looked at me, made a face and said "We're going to get in trouble".
I told her, "No trouble. They'll just come in and say, "Get the hell outta here!" but we'll get the shot! That's what counts. We'll get the shot! As it turned out, of course, no one bothered us and we got a few nice shots on that table.
Inside one of the rooms was a long empty table against a wall. "Go lay on the table", I told her.
She looked at me, made a face and said "We're going to get in trouble".
I told her, "No trouble. They'll just come in and say, "Get the hell outta here!" but we'll get the shot! That's what counts. We'll get the shot! As it turned out, of course, no one bothered us and we got a few nice shots on that table.
Well, this post is getting pretty lengthy, so I'm going to leave some photos and information for another day. Meanwhile, please click the SUBSCRIBE button to get occasional updates directly from me on how to find and work with models for your modeling photography.
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