Over a year ago I did a shoot for a friend’s daughter for her birthday. She decided she wanted photos at the Caves Village, so I obliged and the date was booked.  On the day of the shoot she brought a friend along to be in the photos. It wasn’t a problem so we went ahead with the shoot. She got her photos she was pleased her mother was pleased and everyone was happy.  A year later I got a call from my friend again, she stated that her daughters friend wanted a personal photo session. Again I got in contact with the client we booked a location and a date and everything was on.  Little did I know things do not always work out the way we plan them. I guess it’s that old cliche ‘plans of mouse and men’ type situation.

Photo shoot date, week one. Two days before the photo shoot I get a call from the client….’We have a problem’ she says ‘One of the girls that was suppose to be in the photo shoot came down with the flu. Well since they didn’t want to shoot without her we decided to reschedule the shoot until the next week.

Photo shoot day, week two.  The day before the photo shoot was the day I some how burst a vessel in my eye, and could not stand any light at all. 24 hours of nothingness.  To compound the problem I realized I did not save the clients phone number in my phone nor did i write it down in by calendar book. Geesh talk about bad business practices. So here I am blind to the world and no way of calling my client and just hoping she would call me to confirm the shoot. Well that call didn’t come until the time of the shoot. Thirty minutes passed and I got a call ” Mr. Penn where are you” I had to explain my situation and although upset she was very understanding. I felt a bit bad that I wasn’t able to contact her but i made sure I kept her number handy. So Date was rescheduled for another week.

Photo shoot day, week three.  This was a good day, sun was shining, weather was sweet and my eye had completely healed. I was there then minutes to the hour to make sure everything was in order. Since the shoot location was the Cloisters, I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any wedding or other event that would hinder our photo shoot. If so I would have time to scout for a nearby location that we could use. Luckily it was clear. Client arrived about 15 min past the hour but It was ok after waiting three weeks a few minutes of my time was no big deal. So this is where things got interesting.

My clients name is Shante she came with her friend Michelle, so when I asked where is your third friend, she said she had some complications but she was not willing to wait another week. Cool I said, and started my pre-shoot briefing of what they wanted and what we will do. She agreed and as I was checking my camera settings and setting lights she handed me a roll of money. Literally a roll of money. Shocked at this gunk as my little cousin likes to say I asked what is this? She laughed in a seemingly embarrassed manor. “I was saving my lunch money”

Sigh.. I am Rashad’s humbled ego. That really touched my heart. A year ago she enjoyed her shoot so much that she kept me in mind to do her own, then waited three weeks during weird and unexpected situations and saving up her lunch money dollar by dollar until she had enough to pay for her photo shoot. What am I to do now?  Well the show must go on and we will have fun.

Shooting at the cloisters is always fun if you get the right time of day and year.  The sun setting doesn’t help much because of the town houses on either side so the entire location is often in shade, which is good because now you can control your light better. We started by shooting withing the columns of the cloisters since the vines were covering them so nicely. I was able to find a little bit of sun shining through and decided to use it as a back light to light their hair.

We moved on to individual shots while the other was just cracking me up with their school girl banter. Her friends mother waited patiently nearby laughing at the back and forth banter.  Talking to clients and asking the right questions can give you a whole lot of information about their personality and if they are willing to show emotions during the shoot. Well these girls had no problem giggling, which made things a whole lot easier and smoother for me.

Now upon request they wanted a few head shots. Usually for glamorous head shots there is a particular set up that I use, but traveling light I had to make due with what I had. Two flashes off camera, no soft box or umbrella because of the wind. So I used a stofen diffuser and used that little diffuser thingy that no one ever talks about that is attached to the flash. I needed softer light so I made due.

Next they wanted not a change of clothes but a change of shoes. Go figure. They had these retro converse shoes that they wanted to display so hey why not lets get it on we were making good time any way.  We went to the stair part of the cloisters and did a few interesting shots in black and white and in color.

Finally I wanted to show more of their close friendship so we freestyled it for a few more shots. Just do and pose however you feel like and lets see what you give me. Well they did freestyle that section. Laughing and just having a ball. I wont show how wacky it got but it was really fun.

All in all they said they had a really good time, her friends mother seemed to like the session as well. Sun was still setting I packed up and we walked and talked foolishness all the way to the cars until we parted ways.  A few days later after delivering the photos via website. I get a call from her. She is with her friends going over the photos and again they are having a ball laughing and just enjoying the results. I asked her well was it worth waiting three weeks for? She giggled and said yeah, we want to do another.  There is the story of Shante’s three week photo shoot. All well that ends well to view more photos click the link at the bottom right of this page.

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Welcome to my 24 hours of complete nothingness.  No im not blind but its sorta like the same thing. I have no idea how it happened or when it actually did happen but apparently a blood vessel in my eye decided to pop. Yup I popped a blood vessel in my eye that i use to look through my cameras viewfinder. I started to feel it about two days ago but I had already committed to a party photo shoot the next day. So I had to tuff it out. I did the shoot that night, had to get drop to the location which was a good thing since afterwards things took a turn for the worse.  It was mainly the sudden changes in light that was really causing me pain. My eye felt as if it was about to burst, seriously. I got home and looked in the mirror and it was  blood shot red didn’t even look real.

So now any light that i saw became my enemy. How can i be a photographer and not be able to see? My worst nightmare. Now Ive heard of blind photographers and I know a few of them have been successful, but they have a full team backing them, I don’t so how is it that I am supposed to enjoy my craft now?  I’ve also heard of blind photographers who use sound to take photographs but come on sound….seriously?, well no need to cry over spilled milk just got to chill and wait this thing out.

So from Saturday the 29th of October at about 12pm to Sunday the 30th of October now after 1am I have been in complete darkness wearing a sleep shade mask. The smallest amount of light was painful for me.  If my cell phone rang the light from it made my eyes hurt like i was being stabbed in it, yeah it was that bad.

The worst part of it was that I had a photo shoot scheduled for today but didn’t have the clients phone number to confirm or in this case to advise them of this situation. Bad communication on my part yeah I know but that’s another story. I will get it checked out to find out the problem and hopefully things will get back to normal really soon. Right now Im hopped up on panadol taking two every four hours to keep the pain at bay.

Its a good thing i know my house since I have to walk around in darkness. Getting to the kitchen and bathroom are pretty easy. Drinking water is a natural thing and so is eating. There are however the simple things that annoys ya like finding things on the dresser or selecting clothing and making sure they are put on correctly. Trust me its not as easy as you think but if you do put them on wrong it feels wrong. Out of everything the hardest task I had was brushing my teeth, or rather applying the right amount of toothpaste. It was a blob, felt like i was brushing my teeth with a large helping of frosting. Being in familiar surroundings isnt so bad its when you have to step out of those surroundings that things get a bit scary.

Imagine a completely dark room and you have to feel your way around. As you bump or touch something you identify it and then make a mental note of where it is and your starting point.  Its like putting a jigsaw puzzle together only problem is you dont have the picture as a reference. I must say it has been an interesting experience one of which I would not like to have happen again.

I must also apologize to my clients since their photos will be about two days late due to a serious issue and yeah I will call them to explain, its only good business. Check out the photos below i wanted to document the experience but my little point and shoot decided to give up the battery ghost on me.

What I like the most about being a second shooter or behind the scenes photographer is that there is less pressure on me to get the shot. I can be more playful and try new techniques because the images are only to show the workings of the primary photographer and their assistants or work flow. A unknown task as a second shooter is to help upkeep the mood of the photo shoot, keep the models comfortable and spunky and ready to go before the primary photographer.

Ive posted a few of my behind the scenes shots for you guys to enjoy.

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I decided to tackle this difficult time of day with a few extra pieces of equipment on hand. Shooting a successful photo shoot mid day is nothing new but I wanted to try it for myself, just to make sure I can shoot at any time of day. My model for this lighting test was Lakeria Forbes with her bubbly attitude and charming smile I thought it a good thing to shoot in an open field so I choose a hill at  fort charlotte.   My set up was photographed by a friend of the model and posted to facebook without my knowledge so makes no sense holding out on the set up here.  Using virtually the same set up as the photo shoot as Wonna Noel I added in one new piece of equipment, a scrim.  Using a 6×4 5 in 1 reflector I used the translucent material and mounted it on two light stands at a height of 6 feet to block the sun and giving me the ability to control the light that fell on my model.

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My Nikon strobes can do the job just fine but I wanted to try something different since I’m still working on my personal style of shooting. I decided that the best way to get in some good practice and light set up test is to offer free photo shoots, so my decision was to post in a local modeling agency that is on facebook and see who responded.  The good news is that I got a favorable response, the bad news is…there is no bad news. I get to test out some new techniques, increase my portfolio, the model gets in some modeling practice and increase her portfolio its a win win situation.  So it was time to book some photo dates.

I originally was supposed to photograph another model but that fell through quite dishonorably but no matter, simply move on to the next model. Wonna freespirit Noel as she is called on facebook was next in line or rather first in line now. So we booked a photo date and location and it was on.

I was exited she was exited and in a great twist of fate I had friends as my assistants that day.  A good friend Ive been working with on photos Deandra Fox which on this day not only became a photo assistant but a Photo Director at the same time.  Yeah I threw her in there and forced her creativity out into the open.  It was a bit unexpected on her behalf but I knew she had it in her.  Secondly her brother came along for the ride so I had a lighting assistant helping out with that huge 38″ soft box. And lastly but by no means least, Jeff Major a good landscape and nature photographer came out to assist and keep spirits alive.  Jeff is one of many photographers in a facebook group called Photographers of the Bahamas and Ive shot with him on a few occasions on small photo walks and our last workshop on lighting.  The atmosphere was fun the weather was a bit unruly but mother nature gave us some great clouds to capture during the photo shoot.

Noel is a young model but she has great potential.  After arriving a bit late we had not time for the usual pleasantries so we just jumped right into the photo shoot. We were loosing light fast so we had to get started right away. For a young model being thrown in front of a camera of a photographer she never met before, and a few strange faces around her, besides her mom, she wasn’t as nervous as I thought she would be. After about 3 or 4 test shots she started to warm up, moving from one pose to the other becoming as her name suggests, a free spirit.

When it all boiled down it was roughly three clothing changes, minor changes but changes none the less. The first shots we took I wanted the beach as my background since we were well on shore I knew would get a double horizon. The first would be the sand and the water and the second would be the water and the sky. The colors were awesome so I shot in that direction and Wonna had a blast warming up to my style of shooting really fast. My lighting set up was interesting. I used the 38″ soft box as my main light at a 45degree angle to the camera left, obviously then i used a Nikon SB600 as a fill light at a 70degree angle to the right. I then placed another SB600 behind and to the right of the model at a 45degree angle to give me an edge light and better separation of her and the background and finally I used a small vivitar flash to the left and behind the model as a hair light. Using the Calumet Nikon triggers for all the flashes i got some awesome color with my sky my model and everything well within a good exposure. So now it was just time to play around and try different poses.

The Second shoot my new photo director chose the location.  She decided to use dark foliage as a background.  This complicated things since Wonna now changed into a pink shirt and black jacket. The pink shirt was not the problem it was the dark jacket and the dark background so now I had to light the scene.  I decided to use one of the SB600′s to light the foliage much like in studio. I had to turn up the power obviously but I needed light on that dark background to separate it from the model. Next I  changed my main light to the right of the camera still at a 45degree angle to the model and next to that behind and at a 45degree angle placed the other SB600 as an edge light. Instead of placing the smaller vivitar light as a fill at a 45 degree angle to the models right i attached it to my camera and while in portrait mode or view it acted as an awesome fill light.

While shooting at our second spot i looked over and saw some awesome looking clouds so I quickly called for a change in set up and direction and moved everything over to get those clouds as my background.  The problem with shooting using the clouds is that there was an ugly parking lot in that direction that really sucked so I couldn’t shoot directly on any more so I switched to my 24-70 lens and got on the ground and shot up capturing as much of the sky as I could.  There were some trees in the background but I didn’t see them as a major problem since I knew they will go dark with the background and decided to use them as a semi frame for the model. My light set up was simple, I only used two lights for these shot so I had the main light positioned closer to me but to the right and a second light behind the model off to her left to create an edge light.  Quick thinking was spot on the clouds and sky were awesome.

I am quite happy with the results, my forced photo director and photo assistants for that day were great team players and it felt good to be around light heart ted people.  I would work again in a more official capacity with Noel in the future I think she would make a great model since she catches on quickly and adapts to the situation at hand. Enjoy the slide show below and click on the link at the bottom to see more images from this photo shoot.

Introducing Wonna ‘Freespirit’ Noel

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I have heard of the horror stories of prom goes who hire a photographer and he/she never shows up.  This happens, I would suggest roughly 2-5% of the time.  A photographer becomes overwhelmed by request and over books or doesn’t plan his/her time properly.  It is also expected that the client – the teenage prom goers – will be late….yes its true.  Most people mainly the parents view their child’s prom as a mini wedding in some cases. Hiring limousines or Horse carriages, some go as far as requesting police escort for a grand entrance.  Hiring a photographer, purchasing  a dress renting that super fly tuxedo, what ever it takes to make their child remember that event.

This year is and was no different from every other year, each school trying to ‘out do’ the other in events, or to top the greatest entrance from the last year.  Hundreds of people, family members show up to view and photograph the event goers and to see what type of super fly ride they will make their entrance with, see what kind of amazing dress the female will be wearing and to see and experience that suave debonair walk into the event venue.

Again when dealing with teenagers patience is not a virtue at this time in their life, they want instant photos.  this is where you as a photographer have to get it right in the camera the first time.  No time for massive photo shop works you just have to pay attention to the details while your shooting.  This becomes hard for many photographers since they rely on photo shop to enhance their work.  I on the other hand attempt to get the photo as close to what I have envisioned as possible, that way I would have very little work to do in the digital darkroom. This year I only took two jobs for prom Mardigra and C.R.Walker Twins.

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