Today i really feel we nailed our Talitha Getty-inspired fashion story. The location was perfect, the model was strong and the hair, makeup and styling really captured the spirit of the late 60s. The model, Caroline Wilson, from Two Management who just arrived in town from down under last week was great. She's shorter than most of the girls we shoot—she's only 5' 7"—but she was really strong and knew how to take direction really well. Here are some of the photos from her portfolio that we picked her from.
Here's a shot from Caroline Wilson's portfolio. She's with Two Model Management.
Caroline Wilson on the cover of Factice Magazine
I went with a new shooter, Megan Baston. I knew she would do a great job. The thing I love about Megan is she's the one who really made this shoot happen. I give her all the credit. She was relentless at locking in this amazing location. She went there and met with the owner like three times, called him almost everyday and basically harassed the poor guy until he caved. Hey, whatever it takes, right?
Megan is young but she has a fashion sensibility and good understanding of capturing moments. I say it's almost an innate quality. Either you have it, or you don't. It's all about having a sensibility. That, coupled with an All-Pro styling and glam team, like we had today, and there's not too much that can go wrong. And hey, with a little photoshop, what we don't capture in camera, we can fix in post.
I assembled a great support team for her, but to be honest, we almost had a situation this morning. Lisa Cera, the stylist, called me and said she looked at Megan's book (for some reason, she hadn't looked at it until this morning) and was calling to voice her concerns. I told Lisa not to worry, that I believed in Megan and that I was there to art direct, and that she would nail it. Sure enough, after the shoot, Lisa said she loved working with Megan and would love to shoot with her again. Lisa pulled some great fashion. Some great pieces came in from New York including from CHANEL. The shots look amazing.
I never told Megan about Lisa's concerns. It's never a good idea to deflate anyone's mojo on shoot day. She didn't need to feel insecure in any way. She needed to feel like everyone had her back and that we were all there to support her and she kicked ass.
For young photographers, fashion photography can be a Catch-22. To build a great book, you need a magazine behind you to pull great fashion, get a great model, and great glam team; but usually you need a great book to get a magazine to work with you. My advice is to ONLY show your strongest work. It's not about volume, it's about showing your best work. If that means you only have five photos, then so be it.
Caroline Wilson on our Talitha Getty-inspired shoot today. She just arrived in town last week. Lucky us!
Today we had one of our A-game glam teams on set. Our hair was Paul Desmarres, from Opus Beauty, (who you know I try to use as much as possible). And of course, on makeup, one of my favorite artists, Patrick Tumey, from Celestine. Let me just say that Frank Moore, the booker at Celestine, has been one of Genlux's biggest supporters from way back to our first year. We've been working together for almost ten years now and I have all the love and respect in the world for Frank and everyone at Celestine. Can't wait to share photos with you!