Connectivity
So much of working as a people photographer is about connection. The chit chat before a shoot is as important as the camera settings, the lighting, wardrobe and makeup. So often the energy of the shoot relies on having people who are relaxed around each other and on having a good working relationship.
I was keen to see if this could be achieved over the internet and so I reached out to my friend and Model Kelly, and we arranged a remote shoot.
If you haven’t heard of this before, it’s something that photographers worldwide have been engaged in throughout the pandemic, with some even making it a full time part of their business (see Tim Dunk aka Face Tim as an excellent example of this). Using face time or zoom (and now a handfull of dedicated apps), a photographer directs and photographs a model remotely through their phone. This can be just using window light, or using whatever light is available in the Model's Location. In this case, Kelly already had a light that she uses for her own social media projects (@misskellymaria).
Kelly is super creative and fun to work with, so despite me being apprehensive, it was actually a lot of fun. We did suffer from connection issues, and had to end rather abruptly when Kelly's phone battery ran out, but we managed around these problems.
Often, being constrained in some way forces you out of your comfort zone and makes you find creative ways around the constraints - that was certainly my experience here. Would I make this part of my regular client based work? Probably not. Would I use this as a way to connect with other creatives again? Absolutely!
