Laura was a bit shy when initially getting in front of the camera and had zero modeling or posing experience. On top of the regular time limits, we were also very limited on wardrobe, with just one of two tops to choose from. Combine that lack of experience, lack of comfort being in front of the lens, and no wardrobe…and you’re in for an interesting challenge 🙂 With Laura I stuck to the basics. I tried to go for more basic poses and expressions and use those to get her more comfortable being in front of the lens for some later shots. So many of the earlier shots have a bit more of the “high school senior photo shoot” feel. If this was a multi day shoot or I had more than a few hours, then we could have gotten more creative, but instead there was a lot of teaching from my end. I’ve picked up from models and other photographers different tactics and techniques that they use to strike a pose or make the shot. I felt that without us practicing the basics, it would have been a lot of confused posing. Another thing I did more than normal was to show Laura the shots as I was taking them. Your average model may fully understand what a reflector is, how the hair light is hitting her, etc…but for someone who has never sat under studio lights this can be a bit overwhelming. Surrounding Laura for most of the indoor shots are 5 lightstands holding lights, reflectors, backdrops, umbrellas, and so on. And to top it off, they are fairly close to her. Explaining what everything is on a basic level and how it works was key for us to break through the ‘newbie’ plateau.

Click HERE for more of Laura’s photos!

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