Photography Is Social

on monday of this week i did three separate photo shoots in one day.  the first was with Nori, a really good friend of mine.  having her come to work as a figure model really is just hanging out with a good friend.  i wasn't sure what i wanted to shoot until just after i got up that morning.  when she showed up at 9:30 a.m. i was still working out the details.  but i really didn't have to worry about it at all because we've worked together so many times that when we can collaborate we usually find the voice for the shoot rather quickly.  

so while we were shooting, i was helping her install Leopard on her MacBook Pro, telling her how she should handle her recently burst battery, and having breakfast.  for me, i just feel a bit of confidence in my ability to create now that i didn't have a year ago.  and i can allow myself some of these distractions and still work out a good shoot. it comes down to trust in friends that you know will work well with you and help you execute your ideas.

later that day, i had a shoot set up for Lehigh Valley Living magazine.  i had to shoot with a woman who is trying to setup a center for performing arts in the area and we wanted to shoot around the location where the arts center will hopefully locate.  she immediately recognized me as someone who went to high school with her.  however, i couldn't place her at all.  but after talking more, it suddenly dawned on me that this was Irene's younger sister!  i always get thrilled when the connections start to fall into place.  and it started to dawn on me that photography is causing me to make many more social connections than i ever have in my adult life.

later that evening, i was supposed to shoot with Leah, another friend and local model that i collaborate with from time to time.  we hadn't shot together for a while and when she showed up to my New Year's Eve party we decided to get together to work on some art photography.  however, she thought that we were doing it next monday not this monday!  but knowing Leah as well as i do, it was easy enough for me to say, git yer butt over here and let's get started!  and again, it all really felt to me like just hanging out with a friend.  we were making jokes, laughing about the fact that she couldn't pinch an ounce of fat on her tummy, and i just rolled my eyes when she told me how awful her skin was... when she signed the model release, in the space for photo session description, she just put "f*@%'n around".  indeed.