Ham Wrapped Christmas Turkey...

So... Saturday brought the first attempt to do another shoot since 'the big break'. I wish I could say it was all the love and glory it usually is.

I had decided to do things inside since it was really cold and I was wrapping a friend in ham and wanted him to be as comfortable as possible. (Comfort not really being applicable when you're covered in meat in a homemade heap of trash.) I covered the floor in my workspace to make it look like rubbish and then placed my friend in it, wrapped him in ham, spaghetti and some other (probably not so pleasant) things. The idea for the shoot was seemingly simple. Finding the right angle to do it and not reveal the room around us was not.

So far I've only glanced at the images a few times, but enough to say that it didn't work the way I intended it to. The idea is there, and I believe it is a good one, but things don't always work out first time around.

The light works very different inside opposed to outside. It bounces off the walls and shorten exposure times considerably. (Sounds good, but not when you do what I do.) Also the quality and temperature of the light look and feel very different. So, technically speaking interior shoots are probably not worth spending too much time on again unless necessary.

Another few things became clear to me after we finished. We did a very short session, the shortest ever I think, and in that time I understood just how important my own wellbeing and comfort is to the success of the shoot. All of us were tired and not giving it half the energy we usually do, but there were also clear distractions that took the focus away from what was happening. All in all I think it held a few very important lessons for me in particular in regards to how I work best and what circumstances to avoid in the future.

It's just not as simple as pointing the camera and the light at someone wearing a costume and think it will take you somewhere magical. We have to create this magic. We have to believe in it, to want it. I have to inspire my models to make them want to take me there, perhaps even without knowing what it is they're doing, and they have to inspire my vision of the place we go to. They externalise the experience and help me render that world tangible through their presence in the photograph. If we are not ok ourselves, we will not get there.

All in all I would say it was a lesson well learned. However, it does put me in a bit of tight spot for first round of assessments. It is not that the images do not work at all, because a couple of them do in some ways, but it is how far they are from where I wanted them to be that concerns me the most. It is hard to get back on the horse. I want to, and I'm still very excited about this project, but I continue to find obstacles placed around me that I have no or little control over that must be overcome.

Next time we'll nail it. I know we will.