Links

Official Website | Facebook

Tools

Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop

Context

Being surrounded by an equally ambitious group of friends has its perks. A close friend of mine had recently taken a leap of faith and decided that he would start a self-designed clothing line of his own. I supported him and his endeavour from the start, and watched as his brand grew from humble begins to gaining a commendable following. Rapidly expanding, he realized that the spontaneous photoset that he had taken previously to advertise his designs was quickly becoming outdated. He reached out, looking for someone to assist him in raising brand-awareness and to create higher quality promotional material. This is where I stepped in.

Process

As an aspiring photographer and designer myself, this was an opportunity that I could not simply let pass by. Though more of a candid street-photographer, I was enthusiastic to step up to the challenge of conducting a photography campaign for his brand. He provided me with the clothing and the models (which conveniently ended up being some of our friends), and from there it was my time to shine.

Or so I thought.

Prior to the shoot, I spent some time researching about how to properly do fashion photography. I thought about the many types of photographs that I would take, and even did some location scouting ahead of time. Combined with the fact that I had done a lot of event photography in the past, I believed that I was prepared.

But when the shoot began, I was totally lost. Out of fear, I was reluctant to ask the models to pose for me, as I was worried that I would somehow annoy or offend them. For a moment, I panicked, wishing desperately to not let my friend down. Luckily, one of the models had actually done some legitimate modelling in the past and quickly realized the situation.

He gave me some tips on how to conduct the shoot and from there I quickly grew into the role. As we continued to roam the city, moving from location to location, what was once a daunting task slowly became relaxing for me. I became more confident in commanding the models, and was less afraid to contribute my ideas. I was finally able to comfortably demonstrate my photographic abilities.

Outcome

Reflection

The shoot was a great success. I submit a handful of images to him, and he ended up loving all of them. I had a great time conducting this photoshoot and was very happy that I was able to continue to develop my skills as a photographer. But more importantly, while conducting the shoot and continually running into problems (such as how to manipulate the sunlight without a reflector), not to mention being overwhelmed by nervousness, I learned an invaluable lesson about the value of knowledge.

Sometimes you have to hit the ground running and figure things out as you go. Photography has definitely reinforced this concept to me and made it much easier to appreciate. As a photographer, while you may have a great technical understanding of how a camera works as well as how to fine tune the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to capture the photo that you are envisioning, it is rarely that simple. There are a great deal of other things you have to take into account such wind, lightning, reflections, composition, lines, and so much more. Raw knowledge is not the end-all.

The fact of the matter is that you can never truly be prepared for something, and there is nothing wrong with that! While having experience certainly helps make applying knowledge an easier and faster process, sometimes, seeking solutions from seasoned experts after making mistakes or running into roadblocks is a necessary and beneficial step, both for the sake of learning and to overcome the aforementioned obstacles.