First photo shoot of 2021.

Wake up.

It was 6am and my alarm was buzzing, I have a Fitbit that I use as an alarm, instead of some horrible loud noise I get a gentle vibration on my wrist, it really is a great way to wake up, plus I set it to wake me when I am at my lightest sleep so I wake up easier and feel better when I do. Despite having to leave in half an hour I was sluggish to say the least.

I wanted to leave by six thirty but that was looking less and less likely, I hadn't been to work in a few weeks because of a chest infection so I was a bit out of rhythm, I had been resting a lot and taking it very easy. After a coffee, a shower and a quick check of my camera bag I was ready to go.

My camera bag.

Well to be honest, I have two camera bags. A large one that I will take for longer shoots or when I am travelling. This fits my Canon 5dmk4 with my 70-200mm f2.8 attached, my Sigma 85mm f1.4, my old school nifty fifty and a Canon flash. What I also pack if I am out for a big shoot is my laptop, a clip board for paper work, my hard drive and all the cables, a spare battery and a cleaning kit.

That setup is pretty heavy and when your shooting outdoors in Brisbane you get sweaty fast especially with a heavy backpack on. So I have a smaller bag which I use for quicker shoots or where I know I won't be needing lots of gear. This fits my camera, 70-200mm and the 50mm. Chuck in a spare battery, some business cards and a lens pen and I am set to go.

Coffee.

If you have read any of my other stories or know me, you'll know I can't operate without coffee. So of course I knew I would be stopping for coffee, I just wasn't sure were. I had just stopped at the coffee shop, I was running about five minutes behind and decided to go to a random coffee shop I was passing by as I saw there was no one there.

I got a message from the other photographer whom I would be shooting with Jocelyn. She informs me she is already there. Shit I thought, I am still waiting for my coffee. I'd better hurry, I don't like being late it is a real rarity for me.

Arrival.

I finally arrive at the shoot location, Howard Smith Wharves. I love this place, It has a great variety and can really be good for shooting at any time of day. I was five minutes late but I was super lucky and got the best park possible, I slammed my coffee down, grabbed my gear and headed down.

I met Jocelyn down under the bridge near the brewery, to my surprise the model hadn't arrived yet. Good I thought, I am bo the last to arrive. But the model had chosen this time to shoot so we did expect her to be here on time. perhaps she wasn't going to show we both thought as we hadn't heard from her.

The Model.

The model arrived about ten minutes later and we were all eager to begin shooting. It was about seven fifteen now and the sun was beginning to blast, as it does here in Queensland. I quickly ran through some paperwork, I won't shoot without a signed model release. I know some photographers don't really worry about it and that is fine, it's there choice but I will always do it. I also have a terms and conditions that i have the model read just so we are all on the same page.

The shoot.

As there was two photographers and Jocelyn organised the shoot, I thought I had better let her go first. I would shoot some B roll video footage to showcase the scene and introduce the model. Things where going well, we were spoilt for choice when it came to shooting spots and we were all getting along great. I was chopping and changing between video and stills as I am currently in the early stages of building a youtube channel.

After about half an hour of shooting Jocelyn asks me if I have a spare SD card. This is something I forgot to mention earlier, I do have a spare card, just not in my small bag. Ah, no I said sorry about that. Worried how this would affect the shoot and if she had another spare in the car. She ran off to get a spare card whilst me and the model continued shooting.

We moved around a little bit but not too much as Jocelyn had left her gear with us to look after while she was gone. We got a few great shots and wondered how long Jocelyn would be. We decided to take a quick break and think about were we would head next. Jocelyn returned moments later and to our relief she had an SD card with her.

Moving around.

We had so many possible shooting locations here so we were continuously moving around. This was good as the model only had one outfit so in order to get some good variation, changing scene was necessary. I continued to shoot both stills and video. I used my 5dmk4 with the 70-200mm for this shoot. I rarely remove that lens ever so I am unsure why I always bring the nifty fifty.

We got a lot of different looks and when you have two photographers you really increase your chances of getting lovely candid shots. This is something I struggled with early on when starting out shooting. This has really helped me a lot. I also spend a lot of time looking for scenes when I can get some foreground elements. As I shoot on the 70-200mm I can often put some distance in between myself and the model which really opens up the opportunity for some unique angles and composition.

Wrap up.

It had now been just under an hour and a half, the light was starting to get pretty harsh, my battery pretty low and we all had other commitments to get to. The model was lovely to work with and we really got along well, she was very happy with the shoot as was I. Jocelyn, whom I have worked with many times now was great as always and is loving her new mirrorless camera. Everyone was happy so we called it a day and went our separate ways.