Meet Emma-Louise Rogers, the winner of the 2012 Miss Midnight competition. Miss Midnight is an annual pageant that is a entry qualifier for the Miss Universe Ireland pageant in October. Emma-Louse won the Miss Midnight title in Dandelion nightclub back in July. I knew Emma before she entered the competition through her Gymnastics work and my DE Photo business. We had been trying to organise a shoot for a while and when Emma won, it gave us that extra little push to get it done.
Technically speaking, this was Emma’s second shoot. We had a shoot ( Emma’s first) shortly before this one. The first shoot was kind of like a practice shoot and was Emma’s first shoot, so she was naturally nervous at the start. The shots that you are seeing here are only from the second shoot as the different between then is like night and day. It really goes to show how much of an effect that confidence has on the end result of a picture. All the nerves were gone on the second shoot and we were getting much better stuff.
We had a basic shoot planned out. We had our inspiration images, we had our clothes, we had Emma doing her own hair & make-up and we had an afternoon to shoot the breeze and get some interesting shots.
We got some cool images from the shoot and its a great start to Emma’s portfolio. We are planning the next shoot already which will be even better again as her confidence is building with each shoot.
Confidence is an interesting thing. Being a gymnast, Emma would have performed amazing physical routines while been watched by 100’s of people. Yet when it comes to being infront of one person and a camera, she was nervous at the start. This all comes down to experience. In the gym, she knew excatly what she was doing…. each routine was memorised and perfected to every beat of the music. Weeks and weeks of practice meant that it was the best it could be. In the studio, it was a new experience, being told to look a certain way, wear certain cloths, look towards a certain light etc. etc.
This is no different to any body who comes to my studio for their first ever shoot. Working with people who may be nervous in front of the camera is all part and parcel of portrait photography. People come to the photographer to make them look good. Looking good however is not just about looking good physically, but feeling good is a big part of it, for me. It is much easier to get some one to project a certain look if you can actually make them feel it. If you can make some one feel like a super star, then chances are you will get some pretty amazing and confident pictures out of them.
It is a huge contrast from working with fashion models or for a client. In this case, a model is being brought in to do a job and they should know how to get the looks that are asked of them, without a photographer having to draw it out. A good model will light up the studio with confidence, fun, flair, energy…. things that makes them stand out from regular people. That is that they are used to advertise products and to make people want them and why they get paid so well. Obviously physical looks plays a part and is a requirement for certain types of job… but the personality has to back up the looks.
To book your shoot and to experience what a photoshoot is like, drop me a line