This shot above is easily one of my favourite shots I've ever taken. The pure joy is right there, they aren't posing, they aren't modeling, they're just being amazing, and ridiculous, and the best.
These two models weren't there for that shot... I was honestly just testing the lighting when Hayley with the brown hair jumped on her best friend Hayley with the blond hair. She did it because she's hilarious and for no other reason. I absolutely love this shot.
These two best friends came in because they wanted to update their portfolios so they could get some more venue work. Models tend to get hired for 3 different types of work;
📷 Print work (ie, photos for magazines)
📷 Venue work (like at an expo or something where they have to talk to everyone)
📷 Runways (you probably know what those are)
Runway work tended to go through an agency, and those agencies would often have their own photographers... but for Print and Venue, the agencies who would hire for those would use the model's own portfolio, which is where I came into it.
Since both Hayleys wanted to shoot together, I wanted to try something different. My idea was for two models to be having a good time which escalated into violence as the shots got darker and grittier. I know that's kind of been a theme with my photoshoots, but I really wanted to play with a transition from colourful to black and white...
This is what we came up with:
I thought the models did really well, even if (once again) they would absolutely burst out laughing between shots... I had to take really, really quick photos to catch them being serious... but I was never actually happy with the final product.
I can't even really vocalize what I don't like about it... it just wasn't really what I imagined. I just couldn't get what I had in my head down on the page.
You can't win them all..... but that shot at the top of this post, ugh, such an amazing win!
The images below are a little (NQSFW) not-quite safe for work.
I also wanted to try a similar but opposite feeling image. In this composite, I wanted to try and convey the story line of two close friends who crossed a line in their friendship with one feeling regret.
Again, I wanted to explore story-telling using black and white lighting, and again I don't think I really hit the mark.
I was so perplexed with why I couldn't get these images to work, I actually hired two models to try it again. I thought the secret might be in the lighting.
These models weren't best friends at all... they hadn't met before this shoot. I added more story panels to try and expand on the story, but I honestly don't like the lighting and general look and feel of this composite at all...
I did try the 'close friends crossing a line' black and white story line again, I definitely think I got closer this time, but I'm still not really happy with it. Again, I'm not super sure why... I just couldn't quite get what I wanted...
Thanks so much for reading my little post about Photography - ideas that didn't work.
If you'd like to see some shots that I've taken that I thought did work, please feel free to jump on over to
Photography – Gioia in B&W
Sam versus Cina – a photographic adventure
Photographic brief – Daily life…
If you'd like to talk about the photographies, hit me up on Twitter.
References : All images taken by me.
Posted from my blog with Exxp : https://lifebe.com.au/artistic/photography-ideas-that-didnt-work/