I'd like to share a photo of one of the assignments we had in our photography class. It was a replica shoot. We had to choose a photograph from a magazine or website and try to replicate it. It didn't have to be exact. It was mostly a lighting assignment: find out where the light was coming from and what kind of lighting was used. We had a choice of either shooting in the studio or in our classroom. Although I knew EXACTLY what photographer I wanted to choose from (Mike Ruiz, you know, to make things harder for myself, remember?) I wasn't sure if I SHOULD shoot in the studio (which, btw, have I mentioned it's actually a TV studio?) or in the classroom. When I was going to say I thought I could use the classroom, the studio tech saw my photo and signaled me to shoot in the studio, so I immediately yelled out studio. I had to THEN, find a model. I sort of had one in mind already.
Some time before that, a classmate and I were talking about self-portraits. She mentioned something she went through saying that it made her self-conscious about it. I used to be very self-conscious about a certain body part a long time ago. I had a friend who insisted that every woman had her charms, that it was up to her to figure out what they were and how to use them. Then, I had someone special that just MADE me feel beautiful and happy about all of me. I don't even exactly know when that self-consciousness disappeared, but it did. When this assignment was handed out, I immediately thought of my classmate. It's what I want: to make women realize they ARE beautiful, that you just have to find it within so it'll shine through. Of course, all this is happening in my head. The trickiest part wasn't choosing a photographer or finding a photo. It was convincing her to go along with it.
Being the type of joker I can be at times, I "casually" brought up the topic of finding our models. I started asking other classmates who would they use and joked around about how she should be my model. Joke, joke, joke went to "Yeah, I'm serious." Which she responded with "WHAT?!?!" After some convincing, I got her to do it. Now, for the "easy" part.
I made everything myself. I admit, the paint on my headpiece was still not completely dry by the time I placed it on her and MAY have caused a little dizziness. (I honestly, TRULY, felt bad). The jewelry was easy. She couldn't wear a shirt but I made sure that nothing was peeking out. I wanted her to feel comfortable and beautiful, not on display. (Of course, a friend of hers was freaking out that she might show and it was annoying me. I'm a jerk. Not an a$$h*le). The lighting was "easy". The tripod was being used so I improvised with a table turned sideways. The photo isn't exactly the same of course. His photo has a cooler feeling to it while mine had a warmer one, but, I liked it. I remember asking her how her husband took it. (Yup. She was married.) She told me she showed him the original photo before we shot, and he sort of went "Hm". She then told me when she showed him the photo she modeled in, he gave a more positive reaction. THAT made me smile. I liked it, he liked it, and she liked it (she was in shock, I think). THAT is why I love this.
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