Behind the scenes video feat. Paolina Sambista
This was the last outdoor photoshoot session I did in 2021. Because you know French people don’t like low temperatures. A personal session, no strings attached in a location I was waiting to shoot in for months… Let's see how it turned out.
I love these types of sessions where we are just out there trying to create something without being accountable. I invited Pauline for this one… I had a little something planned out, but couldn’t really picture it without being on location.
You might have already seen that place in my video where I reviewed the ECOflow power station. We watched a movie in the wild during the evening and this behind-the-scenes video was filmed the day after.
We got up early that morning and the challenge was to do all our photos before 10h30 am. We brought the AD300pro and the AD600pro and I used the Bowens softboxes I had on hand at the time.
We popped a few ENOLA Gaye smoke grenades for the occasion and Pauline brought some of her costumes.
So if you look back a bit, I already made a few images with Pauline but inside the Chapelle des Carmélites in Toulouse. Our goal here was to explore unknown territories. I often do this to challenge myself and learn new tricks. I have never photographed these kinds of costumes before. I’ve seen other photographers do it, and I never was really convinced by their results with a few exceptions. So I decided to give it a try, and see for myself. Plus at the time I was still in my early Godox phase where I was trying to figure out if they were reliable. I also tried new methods for my smoke images, looking for a way to have more control over the final images I get. I still always do my best to capture everything on location and do less in post.
We timed our session to see how long it would take us to make a session like that. And this one took us all morning! We were past eleven when it ended and it shows on some of the last images where the light is harsh.
So this is yet another lesson for me, giving me an idea of how I can handle more ambitious projects like this one. One thing is for sure, I will need more people in my crew. So where am I going with this? I am not quite sure yet. I am still hoping to have access to some dope locations in 2022 or hopefully in 2023 again… Like back in the day before COVID.
In the meantime, I am learning new techniques every day, changing my workflow for more efficiency, and testing new ideas, so that when the time comes, I will be ready, and able to raise the bar.
My personal remedy to keep my creative juice flowing.
So tell us how do you step up your game? Do you experiment, exercise, get out of your comfort zone? Tell us in the comments below.