My associate Tim, a.k.a. PhotoCPA on Model Mayhem, and I started planning our next shoot for 2010 as we were wrapping up our Group shoot back in October of 2009. During our discussions he suggested that we put together an organization dedicated to Model Photography that was outside the guidelines and stipulations of Model Mayhem. Tim came up with Collaboration Of Model Photography, or C.O.M.P. for short. C.O.M.P. is comprised of a core group of photographers, make-up artists and hair stylists all contributing to the development of everyone's portfolio. Models do not need to be from Model Mayhem, but show the desire, drive and commitment to excel at their craft while leaving the "diva" status at home.
January 17, 2010 was designated as the first C.O.M.P. Event of 2010 with ten sets available. Invitations were sent out, Casting Calls were posted on Model Mayhem and a week prior to the event we had 20 models, 20 photographers and 5 Hair and Make-up Artists.
I was able to get an invite for a fellow photographer and four models. I told the models not to expect me to shoot any pictures of them since we work together all the time and the purpose of this event was to work with people from the Central Valley. We even had photographers from the Bay Area join our event. The image on the right is of two modeling newbies, Kao (I met him on MySpace) who is a friend of Danielle and Makayla. The last Group Shoot was my White Sheets Theme, this time it was Winter. I told all models to bring something wintry and that the set would have a blue background and during post I would lighten it and them by using an "ice" filter to really cool the look down. As you can see in the photo on the left, color memory makes us struggle when we see something that doesn't seem quite right. So I left the Icy Filter on the background and unmasked it on Danielle, but I'm still not sure which one I prefer.
Overall this was a fun shoot, we left Bakersfield at 7:30 AM and got home at 10:00 PM. The girls couldn't stop talking about how chaotic and exciting the event was, and how they really want to attend the next one. The real benefit of the event for me was to network with photographers outside of Bakersfield, which means there were no egos and attitudes, and of course the variety of Make-up Artists, Hair Stylists and Models was just icing on the cake.
A local photographer once asked why would I travel two hours when we have qualified and talented people here in town. Being a competitive person, you don't grow by staying in your own area, that's why people move abroad, or to big cities, to work with an array of skilled artisans. Okay, off the soapbox, but I had to have my first rant of the year. The picture of me and models Danielle and Jenna was taken by a fellow photographer and now friend, Josh Martinez, who I met at the last event. Very skillful and creative and someone who doesn't mind sharing his craft. Josh and I had our sets directly across from each other at this shoot and everyone who watched us worked were so intrigued. Basically Josh and I were facing each other with our 70 mm -200mm lenses as if we were photographing each other. One of the models likened it to a showdown. It was pretty funny.
So what did I learn?1) From a lighting perspective, keep it simple, which I did. Three lights was all I needed to get my shots done. I was focusing on purely 1/4 and 1/2 shots.
2) Realize that group events are for sharing more than getting killer images. I shared my set, but I really didn't feel comfortable leaving it alone for fear of losing my Pocket Wizards. Someone did walk off with my 77mm lens cap, so I'll need to put my initials on them.
3) Go back to a standard backdrop. I received a lot of mixed critiques about my backdrop.
Overall it was another great event, with plenty of talented people to network with and fun memories. The next C.O.M.P. shoot will be either April or May and will be an outdoor shoot, so speedlights and reflectors.
That's A Wrap!!!
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