I am very satisfied witnessing my growth curve with all the past shoots, culminating to the experience yesterday. Finally I could say I had a shoot smoothly carried out.
Let me say that before Meg I worked in advertising and I had no experience with fashion photography whatsoever. I had thought that my job will mainly be the technical management of the shoot, and I would just leave the direction with posing and puckering to the photographer. Soon enough I realized that I had thought wrong and that directing the poses are largely my job too, and it is only now and then that I would give free reign to the photographer if and whenever a random good idea strikes him.
I remember the first shoot I had with Sarah Geronimo, I felt absolutely lost. It was with one of the best photographers (we always only work with the best anyway), Mark Nicdao, and because of my lack of know-how I told him I would just give him free reign. The shoot didn't turn out to be a disaster, but the pictures came out pretty dark because I think I had chosen a wrong venue in the first place, one that really won't produce bright pictures because it's a dimly lit bar (there had been a directive that our shots need to be really bright from now on, to effectively attract our target market).
I also didn't know then, that I had to match clothes with the poses I had thought of. I didn't even see the clothes beforehand. And I had no idea how to look at clothes. Pretty bleak, it was. But at least the shots still came out ok. And the Sarah Geronimo Dec. issue even turned out to be one of our best selling ones.
My second shoot with Georgina Wilson was even scarier. I ran out of cover options. It's a stroke of luck that there were one or two paintings that Doc Marlon Pecjo hadn't shot with before which we could use for backgrounds.
Matching an outfit to a pose AND a backdrop can be really tricky. I learn how to do it from the people around me. If it's loose pants, the model should be standing up or walking. If it's a busy neckline, it can be used for a close-up beauty shot. Skirts come in all shapes and sizes, and there's only a number of possible poses to correctly showcase each one. The colors need to match the background or the furniture. And there are just so many outfits, like 7 or 8, to choose from, plus the photographer sometimes comes up with a random idea with the outfit, so oftentimes dilemmas come up with mixing and matching and I need to change the order of the wardrobe again.
I make a plan, like a really specific shot list, but I expect to deviate from it. It's better than starting with nothing and having nothing to base decisions on. This is like rearranging the letters in a Scrabble rack.
I can see from the shoot yesterday how far I've grown in these areas. Now I more or less know how to prepare pegs, match poses with outfits and direct the model in a straightforward way. My boss (MMPI Group Creative Director Suki Salvador) was there, and because of his inputs yesterday I now have an idea where to consistently grow in during shoots- DYNAMISM when directing. Mainly you have to look at how the model naturally moves, and work from there. Directions will depend on everything happening at the moment- her outfit, her location, the way she is currently moving. You can't really tell her to copy your peg exactly, each human being is wired to move differently. And always try to look for something better in the shot, like tippy-toes or parted fingers or a more tilted head.
I guess directing this way is really something I can learn on the job. There is no written manual for this; it's really experiential knowledge and getting into the groove of it. I shouldn't expect myself to have so many inputs immediately; the important thing is that I learn and eventually get more creative with each and every shoot.
The shots we had yesterday were AWESOME! I told my other boss, Meg EIC Peewee Reyes-Isidro, that I believe we're going to have a difficult time choosing a cover shot, we have so many great pictures and great outfits courtesy of our fashion assistant.
Watch out for the Meg April Summer Issue! :D
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