Maryna...By the Marina

 

Maryna got in touch, inviting me to shoot with her, since she was in the region. She liked my ability to capture flattering images both in the studio and location. Flattered, I gladly accepted, and so pleased I did. Standing 5’9 she is very striking. Pre-shoot communications were very professional, and I gave her a free hand in terms of clothing choice and style. Wherever possible, I like to capture a model’s character and personality, although there are times, say in a commercial setting, where they have to be a canvas for the designer, makeup artist, hairdresser etc.  

Maryna is originally from Ukraine but began her modelling career in Germany in 2020. I wasn’t surprised to find her approach and subsequent communications ultra-professional and straightforward. We agreed on a two-hour shoot by the quayside- it was central, public, but had plenty of scope for uninterrupted shooting. She arrived promptly and immaculately prepared, ready to shoot. We started with the black and red theme, switching to the yellow and black. It was cool and blustery, but thankfully the rain forecast didn’t materialise.

Come the close of the second set, we’d been shooting for 1hour with nominal rest and sensing she was a little cold, I suggested we break in the warm. Twenty-five minutes and a change later, we were back in the quieter areas and shot for a further twenty minutes until I realised we'd gone over by five minutes. I closed at his point, since both had other appointments and didn’t want us to be rushed. These were shot at F2 using my A6300 body and equally trusty Sony 50mm 1.8 lens.       

Jess

Jess had seen my work and got in touch, suggesting we should shoot and asked me to throw a few themes/ideas her way. She reminded me of the “synths” within the “Humans” series that ran on Channel4 from 2015-2018 and Priss, Daryl Hannah’s replicant character in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” (The original, 1982 version).  

Jess wasn’t familiar with the latter but au fait with “Humans” and liked the concept. We shot in Nowton Park, which is a very central area, with lots of woodland but civilised features, including café and crucially toilets. She had never worked with me before, so model comfort was paramount. I have shot on location countless times, but public places can present their own challenges.  

Most curious passers-by do so at a respectful distance, but small children and springer spaniels can be less generous in their discretion. Practicalities such as changing, let alone any hint of nudity must be carefully managed. Jess brought three outfits (dresses) which eliminated most risks of unwanted exposure, although a zipper presented challenges. She overcame this by pinning the dress closed (there was a palpably painful moment when her careful pinning turned bandit, lodging into her skin).  

A wince and some deft movements bought her release and without drawing blood. Empathy on the photographer’s part is helpful but, these situations come with the territory and a good model doesn’t let it faze them. She simply progressed to the next outfit, and I alternated between trusty Sony A6000 and 23mm F 1.4 lens and the 6300 50mm F1.8.  

 

Second Helpings : More Fun With Michelle

 Michelle invited me to shoot at her cottage and though I’m not doing any studio shoots, given the pandemic is continuing to present a very real risk to health, location nudes are practical, given temperatures are presently around 23 degrees.

 We’d thrashed out a shoot plan a week or so beforehand and tweaked this to reflect the sudden hike in temperature. Given Michelle’s experience within the glamour and nude genres, it will come as little surprise this formed the primary framework, with a mix of implied and old school “glamour” thrown in for good measure.  

I always suggest a mix of implied, lingerie/swimwear, since there is a limit of fine art poses and I don’t want a shoot going stale for either party and sometimes both. We have always had an excellent rapport, so our session was very relaxed and conversational, which for me ensured the best results, seemingly effortlessly. 

I shot these alternating between my full-frame Sony A7 with 50mm 1.8 and the 6300 with 35mm 2.8, set to 3.2 in this instance. Much of our conversation was about the industry and some names within it. Some I had reservations about, and she affirmed my gut feelings.  

Sunglasses: Shoot 3 with Silvai

Silvai approached me with two fashion concepts, which we decided to roll into one session. She wanted to do a summer dress shoot with beach and rural backdrops and a slightly racier red swimsuit and sunglasses theme. This concept would also work on the beach but a lack of changing facilities and families with small children meant this was inappropriate.      

Despite suffering a small but painful injury a couple of days previously, she was impeccably prepared, coordinated, and ready to shoot. As before, she had lots of ideas and knew precisely how she would execute them.  

She poses intuitively and works tirelessly to achieve the desired results. Not that I needed to give any input really, which is very unusual unless I’m working with very experienced models. I also shoot more efficiently, with fewer frames but solid results every time. 

 

I usually show models a series at various intervals so we can evaluate progress. However, she politely declined, saying she had complete faith in my abilities, which was very flattering. I also get the impression she also enjoys the element of surprise/excitement like film processing, when images appear in the darkroom.