Thread: My first photo shoot! (more pics added)

Just one pic as a teaser tonight (I'm tired after 3 hours of yoga & dance!) More images/shoot story to come

shot May 3 at Bethesda Terrace in Central Park by Jon Apostol....a lovely time despite the pouring rain and interfering tourists! I'm going back to this location and a few more with a different photographer this Sunday to get some sunlit images---cross your fingers for me! ..l;,



Scroll to the bottom for shoot story & the rest of the pics

..l;,Oh this is fantastic!

Wowza! That is an awesome photo! I can't wait to see more. :)

Brilliant. Love the pose, the lighting, the location, the vibe. Everything.

You could do some nice silhouettes there if you have the sun behind you too.

Can't wait to see more!

Beautiful!!!

I can't wait to see more too!!!

:-)

that is a beautiful shot!

beautiful!

Love the sun sparkle in the middle! Brilliant!

Gorgeous shot, Najla! I'm glad you had a good time on the shoot. But hasn't the weather been terrible lately? All this rain is killing me!

Beautiful.

Very nice...love the composition...the arch and the veil.. very cool! ..g.:

Thanks so much all! If the sun ever manages to come out, I definitely want to play with silhouettes--the architecture provides such a beautiful framework. It *should* be nice Sunday, so I'm going to take full advantage of that. My goal for the shoots are images for a revamp of my website, as well as promo materials like cards. I like solid background studio shots, but I wanted to do something unique and take advantage of the sites around me. Beyond working in the park again, I'm hoping to work in Times Square and other very NYC places. Raqs and the city!

Up until the day before the shoot, the weather was supposed to be nice--I woke up to pouring rain and gray skies (at 7am!), put my face on, and hoofed it over to Central Park. I'd practiced all my makeup and hair the day before, so with the help of a little coffee I was on auto-pilot. Believe me, the atmosphere has been depleted a bit thanks to the amount of hairspray I used to shellac my curls in anticipation of humidity.
Originally, we'd planned for the shoot to be about 3 hours, but then my photog got called into his job unexpectedly, so by the time he made it in from Jersey and got set up, we had just about an hour to get to work. He'd had some experiences with dancers (which contributed to my choosing him out of the many who responded to my casting call on Model Mayhem), so that did help. Also, he brought two lights (which gives the sunlight effect in many pics), which was a very wise choice, especially with the gloominess. Unfortunately, the moveable light is triggered by a camera's shutter. In a perfect world, that means it goes off when your photog shoots. In Central Park, it means the flash goes off wildly as rampaging tour groups not-so-subtly try to take your photo and gawk. One midwestern mom even shoved her two sons into the frame with me to take a picture! Luckily sparklies put me in a good mood--I'm not usually too keen on that sort of nonsense ..g.:
(to be continued...)

(part 2)
Working around the spontaneously flashing lights, we focused a lot on movements, slowly moving from poses, or slowly spinning. Reading a lot of photo shoot threads on Bhuz really helped me to plan for this (so thank you all who documented!) We really didn't have time to slow down, though I would have like to get more pensive moods, and maybe some close-up shots--there were a lot of cheery looking images, which is something I want to work on in the next shoot to get some variety in. What did slow me down sometimes was my veil! That first shot? That was after womping myself in the head with it, dragging it in the wet leaves attempting some running shots and getting the sequin trim caught in my heel, nearly tipping me over into a face-plant. Graceful, eh? Hopefully the tourists didn't get that one. It was really a non-stop hour, with the first half hour or so really trying to get a balance of light/lack of bystanders/sense of how to focus in on movement. The lighting worked wonders with the wings, but I don't think I'd quite loosened up enough to really allow my movements and expressions to be free. It wasn't until the last bit where things really clicked with the veil. By the end, I finally got to think, and structure poses more and think about those little details of carriage and emotion. After a whirlwind shoot, I was back home in yoga pants with no makeup and a cup of tea by noon. Quite the transformation!
I'm happy with how these came out, and will definitely use some, but I'm glad that I've gotten one shoot under my belt so that I can focus more on my posture and facial expressions next time. More time will be a total blessing--more moments of review and rethinking, as well as time to really enjoy the process.

Thanks again for your compliments, Bhuzzers! I feel like such a princess

(part 2)
Working around the spontaneously flashing lights, we focused a lot on movements, slowly moving from poses, or slowly spinning. Reading a lot of photo shoot threads on Bhuz really helped me to plan for this (so thank you all who documented!) We really didn't have time to slow down, though I would have like to get more pensive moods, and maybe some close-up shots--there were a lot of cheery looking images, which is something I want to work on in the next shoot to get some variety in. What did slow me down sometimes was my veil! That first shot? That was after womping myself in the head with it, dragging it in the wet leaves attempting some running shots and getting the sequin trim caught in my heel, nearly tipping me over into a face-plant. Graceful, eh? Hopefully the tourists didn't get that one. It was really a non-stop hour, with the first half hour or so really trying to get a balance of light/lack of bystanders/sense of how to focus in on movement. The lighting worked wonders with the wings, but I don't think I'd quite loosened up enough to really allow my movements and expressions to be free. It wasn't until the last bit where things really clicked with the veil. By the end, I finally got to think, and structure poses more and think about those little details of carriage and emotion. After a whirlwind shoot, I was back home in yoga pants with no makeup and a cup of tea by noon. Quite the transformation!
I'm happy with how these came out, and will definitely use some, but I'm glad that I've gotten one shoot under my belt so that I can focus more on my posture and facial expressions next time. More time will be a total blessing--more moments of review and rethinking, as well as time to really enjoy the process.

Thanks again for your compliments, Bhuzzers! I feel like such a princess

And now....the rest of the pics!!

Originally Posted by najla86

And now....the rest of the pics!!

this one is my favorite!!

Originally Posted by KDizzle

this one is my favorite!!

I was just about to post the very same thing! Beautiful!!

you look so gorgeous in all those pics! i love your smile!

Originally Posted by Kathiya

you look so gorgeous in all those pics! i love your smile!

Yes, I was thinking this too, your smile is wonderful!

They all came out so nice.

Hey Najla - is that my old costume? It looks GREAT on you - stunning pics, congratulations!!!

Thanks Caasi! And, yes, indeed it is:) I absolutely adore it, and it fits like a dream

I paired it with a skirt I got from Ravena on the swap meet, which went perfectly

Stunning pics! Hope you don't mind, but I may borrow some of your pose ideas when it comes time for me to do some publicity shots :)

They're fab - really lovely lighting and great posture and movement! Gorgeous!