Another photo shoot

A couple Fridays ago, a friend and I did another photo shoot with our favorite photographer. She had not been in her studio for most of the year, and we were itching to get back in front of the camera, so a seven-hour shoot was born! When we decided to do this shoot first we located our hair and make-up "girl" who does a wonderful job making us up and is a great fit with the rest of us - we all cut up, joke, and have the best time.

The second thing we did was search for ideas. I looked on Flickr, Photobucket, individual photography sites, magazines, and everything in between. We then began to gather props. Gathering props mean that you need to locate clothing, shoes, jewlery, hats, along with physical props needed for the ideas you have. One wouldn't think that would be much, but you have to pack up all of the clothing and accessories you are going to wear but also the props for the pictures, truck them into the studio, truck them out of the studio, and then find a place for them when you unpack them at home!

This time I had to bring a bar stool, a sexy Santa outfit and bag, some stuffed animals, etc., etc. The most difficult thing to bring was helium-filled balloons. Normally this isn't much of an issue, butI had a certain color and number I needed. I went to the only place in town that fills latex balloons with helium. It was a day that brought rain, wind, and sun. I went in while it was sunny and FORTY-FIVE minutes later, I had TWELVE (yes, it took them that long) balloons to get in the car. Problem? It was raining and blowing the wind so hard that I was beat to death with the balloons and had to stand in the rain until the wind stopped long enough that I could push the balloons in the back seat and not pop them on the bar stool, rolling suitcase, and other boxes and bags of clothes and props. Long story short, I lost two, which wasn't bad but it was the main color I needed and probably looked like an idiot to the busiest corner of Main Street on a Friday during the lunch traffic because I stood in the rain while the balloons were blowing against me and away from me at the same time. It was all worth it, though, if you look at my profile picture. That is the only picture I have seen of the balloon set so far, and it made it all worth it.

So far I have only seen a sneak peek of the 600+ pictures that were taken that day, but I am in love with most all of them of not only me but also my friend and my husband. Yes, I finally got my husband to a shoot! He took some great shots with his bass, but then he let me take some couple shots with him. Not only were they couple shots, but artsy couple shots! The photograher took some "normal" poses for us in case the artsy ones weren't what we wanted, but they are so plain in comparison to the cool ones.

I guess the reason for this rambling is that these photo shoots could seem self-conceited and pompus, but really it is the entire process that is so enjoyable. It is so much fun to find an idea you like, and then work towards making that idea come out on film with you in it! Like me, I took a lot of ideas from Sarah Jessica Parker. I look NOTHING like SJP but we made it work. That's the incredible, artsy side to this whole process. Take an idea, make it your own, and have a fabulous time in the process. This was just one more fabulous time in the studio!

We are actually in a real studio while taking these pictures. There are the large, square, very hot lights attached to these scissor-lift arms so they can be moved up, down, and every which way. There are rolls of fabric and paper on the ceiling that roll down for different backdrops. There is even a very large drawer full of fabric, accessories, hats, pillows, and more. If you look around there are also the usual props like the lounge, the "smart chair", etc. This time I even used the wind machine (also obvious by the balloon pic).

The studio process is great. We roll in all of our stuff, put on the music, and click away. We really should learn to lock the door because once we get started, the clothes fly everywhere while we ask one another what would go best in this picture, does this look okay with this top, and, well, we do a few pictures with a very little amount of clothes. Apparently me (and my friends) are not afraid to run around half naked. With this set of pictures, we even existed on nothing more than Milano cookies and mimosas! How great is that? :) So when Jeff came to the studio half way though, he rang the bell just in case! I think in a way, he even enjoyed the shoot. Again I think it is the process of having an idea in your head come out in a tangible form. You can look at yourself in a different light. Sometimes, you need to look at yourself in a different light.