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.
