Just Go with the Flow
Most of my photo shoots begin with a concept. There are conversations, a mood board, a location, wardrobe ideas, and sometimes even a story in mind. I like to arrive fully prepared so that we know we’re on the same page and can experiment freely without losing sight of our goals.
Then, there are shoots that we discover as we go, having no plans, just letting our instincts carry us through it. Next month’s feature was one of those.
I met Chrissy completely by chance at a bar in Los Angeles. She joined my friend group, and we got to chatting and looking through my Instagram feed. When I broached the idea of a photo shoot with her, she lit up. A few months later, I showed up at her house with only my camera and the basic idea of an at-home shoot. She laid out some clothing options, opened a bottle of wine, and dove in.
Throughout the shoot, she was texting a man she had been dating (now her boyfriend). I kept snapping as she sent flirty texts and smiled at his responses, creating organic and playful images.
That lack of separation between the shoot and the rest of the evening became part of what made it interesting. There was no need to manufacture intimacy. We weren’t trying to create a dramatic narrative or force a particular emotion. We were simply spending time together, drinking wine, talking, taking photos, and seeing where our session went.
Her wardrobe followed a natural progression, condensing a day’s activities into our few hours together. She gradually changed from casual wear into a cocktail dress, then a sheer nightie, and finally, nothing. We hadn’t decided on that at any point; it just happened naturally as we explored her space and her wardrobe. Each change became another small shift in the mood of the photographs. Even when nude, then the emphasis wasn’t really on her body but on her comfort with the experience.
As she flirted with the man on the other end of the phone, she flirted with the camera, sometimes deliberately provocative, sometimes just amused by the whole situation.
No particular image was needed. No transformation she wanted to document. She wasn’t trying to become a model for the evening. She was just enjoying herself.
That can be tricky to capture in the camera when there’s too much to focus on. When we have a specific goal for the shoot, the session is still enjoyable and rewarding, but we’re keeping our eye on the ball instead of just melting into the moment. In a shoot like Chrissy’s, I just had to notice what made her laugh, when she relaxed, what she did when she forgot about the camera.
Instead of a story or concept, we built an atmosphere: a young woman at home in the evening, a glass of wine, a few texts to someone she liked, and an increasing willingness to see where the camera might take her.
Sometimes the most interesting thing you can bring to a shoot is a plan. Sometimes it’s the willingness to abandon it. Get the whole story in October’s feature.
