Easter break week 2

This week I had my time to show off the new photography skills I have acquired practicing so far... Lia Lazar has asked me to collaborate with her for her own FMP book, Celestial Metamorphosis. For me, a book represents something that has to be excellent, especially a coffee table book, and especially one that I had contributed at. This thought had made me feel more of the pressure than I should have, at the end of the day it was just a photoshoot like all the other ones. But this is how I felt before actually arriving to the studio, when I was doing my research on the photographers I admire, model poses, type of shots and lighting etc. Discussing with Lia, we have chosen to photograph Saturn, so se was ready to experiment with different lighting techniques such as gels and so was I, although I have not experienced with it before. I have done a bit of research on how to do it and found some reference images, but also had some backup ones just in case, which proved to be extremely useful as Lia took longer than expected to to the model's hair so we did not have time for the gel experiment. I decided to go for something a bit safer, something that I have practiced at least once before, and having the experience gained from the shoot when I photographer her helped me so much.
During the shoot, I was very calm and tried to calm everyone else, as Lia and the model were a bit distressed because we have started shooting later than usual. My positive way of thinking and speaking on the day has somehow transferred into them and even though on the inside I was feeling a bit nervous, staying calm in front of them and acting like I really know what I'm doing has helped keep a positive atmosphere. I have faced a bigger challenge in that day than I expected though, because Lia has managed to borrow a Canon Mark iii, the camera I always wanted to shoot with, the camera of the real pros. Unfortunately, I was not familiarised with it and it was a bit hard at the beginning to figure out the focal points, as my camera, although a new model of Canon, was different to this full frame one. My struggles to keep both the lips and the eyes on focus have been noticed by Lia and myself, but even so, Lia was very excited about the results and kept complimenting the images as I was taking them. This has made me feel much more confident and when Chris passed by, I also asked him about how to use the focus better to achieve images like in the example I've shown him. He then explained me that in order to get those images, I have to open the aperture to be able to focus on more background detail and multiple points. This little piece of advice has literally changed the way I look at those kind of images now, and I can't wait to experiment further to perfect my photography skills.
After the shoot, I was feeling an inexplicable state of happiness. I know it sounds weird but I have not felt this way in a long time about my work, as always work has come with a bit more pain than it used to be at the beginning. I am not sure if this signals that I now gravitate to enjoy photography more than make-up, but the feeling of being there JUST to take the images and not do every little ting was making me feel somehow free... less worried and disappointed in what I do, as it it the case with most make-up looks I do, I am rarely able to feel happiness upon completing it.
I cannot believe though that even if this was one of my first real attempts at doing photography, Lia has been so happy with the images. SHE EVEN SAID IT WAS ONE OF HER BEST SHOOTS and put my image ON THE COVER OF THE BOOK. That really means so much to me, and I know her well enough, she really meant what she said.

So this are some of the images from which I was supposed to take inspiration for the lighting, but I have then not used:

And here are the inspirational images I have used, taken by a photographer that I really admire and found on instagram:

I LOVE the use of natural skin colours in these images, although I have found that combining that with some kicks of colour such as the ones that were used in the make-up that Lia did, really helped the images stand out. 

Here's some behind the scenes:

The final images used on the website will be placed under "Celestial Metamorphosis"

As it can probably be observed, I have mentioned less and less social media activity these weeks... I have failed to organise my time properly and post consistently during the development of the project and this can be observed in the decrease of profile visits and engagement towards my posts.