Ideas for new shoots

When I went to Thailand this summer, I prepared color comps for the trip. At the time I made them, the goal was to know exactly what I was going to shoot to ensure that I got what I wanted. After I got there, I got much better shots that in most cases did not reflect the original composition. There was only one exception to this, a shot of a model under an overpass, but even that shot was changed in at least two important ways. First, I was worried about traffic and had originally planned on shooting it without any cars in the background. When I got there, I realized that light trails from vehicles in the early morning would add a lot to the composition, so I put them in. To get the cars in the shot, I changed it from vertical to horizontal. I did get some safety shots that were vertical, but my favorite image was horizontal. The rest were quite different in many ways.

I have just started making sketches for another shoot I want to do, but this time I have a better idea what to expect from them. The sketches will help me decide the following: 1) Location 2) Model 3) Clothes/styling 4) Mood 5) Composition That said, I fully expect that when I get to the shoot location (provided I find the model, stylist, and MUA I will need to do the shoot) things will change. The poses will be different but better, the compositions will be different but better, and the color will be also. I looked up the ideal clothes I would want for the shoot, and they were mostly Valentino, but there was also a Chanel and an Elie Saab. What are the chances I can use any of these for the shoot? Practically none, but with these sketches the stylist might be able to find similar alternatives. All this is to point out that the sketches are useful, but not in the way I expected when I first started making them for the Thailand trip.

One last thing that they do is they help solidify in my mind what I want to get out of the shoot and make it more real to me. Once I have a sketch, I have something I can show someone else and say 'see? This is what I want'.