Impromptu Collaboration Part 02

So, the next day, I ventured back to the location for the shoot. Once there, I met with Tom, and the model, Nancy Harry, who was really great fun to shoot with. I've wanted to work with her before, mostly due to the fact that she's fairly tattoo'd. She's one of those models who really just gets-on-with-it, and just does what you ask, without complaining of being cold, dirty tired, etc, she was really great, we all had a good laugh, and there was a genuinely relaxed but energetic vibe for the shoot, which put everyone at ease.


We basically had 2 different locations, one was a multi-story car park, and one was an underground loading bay for a shop above. Tom's proper job, when he's not running-around filthy holes taking photographs, is a graphic designer, and the multi-story car park was actually a small part of a larger project that he was working-on redesigning so we had the whole place to ourselves. The other location, the underground loading bay, was truly one of the grungiest places I've ever shot at. It was one of those places where you walk in and you think, "Actually, am I 100% percent sure I've had all my hepatitis injections? What about Tetanus?" It really was on the trampy side of derelict. You know the kind of place with that wonderfully rich and distinct aroma of cider-fueled piss?


It was only while really shooting together that I realised just how different our styles were. Although we both lean towards the alt / fetish side of things, and kinda steer-away from straight-up glamour, our actual shooting techniques were completely different. Tom was mostly available light, chiaroscuro etc, spending most of his time with long shutters on a tripod. I, on the other hand, work mostly on punching the subject with flash, and getting (frankly) invasively close to the model with a wide-angle lens. I found it really interesting to see us both working in such completely different styles, and of course, afterwards, seeing two completely different sets of resulting images. It really was an eye-opener. Obviously, I can enjoy the privileged position of having produced the vastly superior images, but Tom's weren't too bad either. He's not bad, you know, bless his cotton socks, he's coming along...

Here's a few of the images I shot:

Most of these were shot with a very similar set-up. I was using a single SB600 speedlight off-camera, with a warming gel and a honeycomb grid, with radio triggers. The idea was to warm-up the subject, with a fairly harsh and focused light (speedlight manually set to zoom), then slightly under-expose the background, with the White Balance set to create a cooler ambient light. In some situations I was also able to use any available light sources as a rim light. There was a certain amount of experimentation on this shoot, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm also pleased with the various individual elements that make-up the images, i.e. - a tattooed model, grungy locations, bright colours, wide angles and under-exposed backgrounds - all of which are things I find visually pleasing in my own photography and other peoples.

We have more plans to collaborate in the future, with the aim of producing something between us, and we're definitely looking at getting together again in the near future. Interestingly, the next one could be  a really significant step-forward for the both of us. This time, the model was working TF and it was all a bit last minute. However, the plan is for the next shoot to have a much more collaborative foundation, involving hair and MUA, and maybe hiring-out a location for a day. So with a bit of luck, we'll both have something really special for our portfolios in the near future.


So, as the cool kids would say, watch this space etc etc.