Helen…St Botolphs & Beyond.

Helen approached me via mad cow models madcowmodels.co.uk, wanting to do a location shoot around Colchester, Essex.  Exploring people’s motivations and ultimately, their specification is imperative before I will book anything in, let alone lift a camera.

What brought them to modelling? What are they seeking to achieve in a session? and moreover, what drew them to me/ my work, specifically?

The more prosaic and articulate, the better, so far as I’m concerned. All discussions are documented via portfolio hosting sites, or emails. This avoids any miscommunication, or ambiguity.   I also like to build decent pre-shoot rapport, helps on the day.

Part of this is technical/practical. What equipment is required, will I need to factor studio costs into the equation? If its location based, are there public toilets/other facilities for comfort stops, discrete outfit changes, hair and makeup retouching/styling.

In terms of timescale, most of my shoots are 2-3 hours. 90 minutes and 2 hours of actual shooting, respectively. The remainder is for relaxed outfit changes, and some downtime.

With all this in mind, Helen was relatively coy, some models are, in writing. However, her references were consistent and favourable. So, I summarised the shoot itinerary, she agreed, and everything aligned on Wednesday morning.

Street homelessness/rough sleeping is extremely obvious in Colchester now, although the old priory ruins/St Botolphs area had always been popular with street drinkers and drug users. Since the priory ruins were our first location, speed and heightened awareness were imperative.

Helen changed to something more casual and we headed to the derelict Odeon cinema. Ordinarily, the curious public can be a serious hindrance (although this is usually tempered by good people skills). Thankfully, a row of businesses and frequent footfall worked in our favour.

Somewhat predictably, it wasn’t long before we encountered some heavily inebriated and unpredictable street drinkers. Helen handled it well. The gentleman pictured was thankfully, very good humoured, once I’d indulged him.

On some levels, I also find humour in the image, so will add it to my street photography port-folio. In these instances, there is an argument for using a higher end CSC, rather than an SLR, since it attracts less attention.

Castle Park provided more salubrious backdrop, with plenty of people milling about but no further interruptions. 90 minutes into the two-hour slot, Helen needed to be heading to Stratford, for another shoot. I chose a disused bus garage, literally three-minutes walking distance from the station. She moved seamlessly between poses, there were no interruptions-done in ten minutes. Having seen her to the station, I sensed the area’s temper was changing, so weaved through the side streets and to my car.