I think sometimes you have to celebrate your challenges and failures along side of your victories. This session was a challenging one across the board. Ruby and I may have locked in this shoot over a month ago, but a week ago she let me know that she just wasn’t feeling as energetic as usual and wanted to take things a bit more low-key than the costume shoot we had planned.
Cool. No problem. I’m here to do the work. I don’t care all that much what I’m doing, as long as I’m doing it. Also I prefer to test new equipment on more “low stakes” shoots anyway (not to brag, but most of the time I really do like being a photo industry secret agent and getting to play with pre-release toys…this will come back to bite me in just a few seconds).
I’m not sure what happened this time around, but I think I was fighting my equipment from the first frame. My first mistake was thinking I could use good quality lights with a poor quality modifier. I’m spoiled I guess with having access to better equipment, but I still can’t believe I can notice a difference with something I relied on not too many years ago. However, that was only the first battle. No matter what troubleshooting I did I kept having blank frames where my strobes just didn’t fire. I have some troubleshooting to do, and even though I’m happy with what we ended up getting, I’m still a little disappointed we had to cut things short (even if it did mean we did get more time mobbing around a new antique store and Target for the afternoon).
Fuji Sensia 100 (Adjusted)
Adryana - 2023.
Oh hey, look who it is. Miss me? I’ve been spending the last few months dealing with some health issues and general weirdness. But sometimes you just have to get back on the horse and do the work.
I’ve been planning this shoot for a few years now (in a way anyway), and in a lot of ways this is actually a “Part II” from an earlier shoot I did for my “Cats who live with my friends” series (which I probably should get back to at some point).
When I was invited over the first time, things just didn’t line up the way we both wanted, so I was happy to finally get another chance.
This shoot was a bit shorter than what I’m used to doing, but after several months away I was happy to take things a little easier this time around. Nonetheless I think we were able to get some great stuff out of it.
Golden Mystique - 2023.
I like to keep things humble around here (even if this is my Blog and all) but this shoot was proof that when you know your craft, stay professional, and above all do good work– Good things happen.
Golden Mystique (AKA The Gilded Gams of Burlesque) found me in part through a list of Photographers put together by blog favorite, Titan Moon, and through the recommendation of someone who even though we have never worked together was impressed enough with what they had seen to send someone my way.
I’m happy that she could find me, and that we could get something scheduled (even if her weekend had been a wild one of little sleep and family responsibilities). Priding herself on being a queen of body positivity and a proud BIPOC performer, you shouldn’t miss out on seeing her perform if you have the chance.
I’m still figuring out what I’m doing with this black wall, but for the first thing I’ve done as part of studio V2 I’m certainly not mad at it.