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Preparation, in any circumstances is key. At least, that’s the notion my mother always tried to teach me as a kid. Emphasis on “tried” cause I’d like to say I’m a practitioner of being organized, but very few are truly masters at it. Yet, when it comes to my work in photography, I always try to be as prepared as I can before the shoot because this sort of discipline takes enough trial and error to know what efficiently works and doesn’t work.
My calendar is stacked with shoot dates and the day before, I religiously ensure my batteries are charged, and my memory cards are formatted and ready to go. One of my many mantras that I’ve come to adopt is that I strive to make Future Me’s job less hard during a shoot, so that I can focus on, well, the shoot itself.
When I met Madison, I realized we had a similar sense of values when it came to being prepared for a shoot. Like a pro, she had alternate outfits ready to go, a box full of accessories, and another box full of different styles of sunglasses. On top of that, she already knew which combination of these items would look best, and I gave my ideas as to what I thought would also look good to. This back and forth exchange is exactly what I look forward to when I meet someone for a session like this because we’re both bringing ideas to the table and we actively want the same goal, which is to come up with the best pictures as we can for that day.
When you talk to Madison, you can hear how goal driven she is, as she is also actively working with other photographers and even has her own YouTube channel where she takes audience feedback into consideration to help guide the kind of content that would work best. She’s attentive and responsive to her audience, and more importantly, she’s enthusiastic to make those connections. Madison is a resourceful young woman who is very much dedicated to her work, and it was fun working with her.
It was almost as if we’ve been friends for quite some time in the way that we would talk to one another in between shots, and her charismatic personality definitely shines in the confidence she holds in her expressions in the images below. Her positive, forward looking attitude is what influenced the decision to have her look outside the frame, as if she’s looking to a future that’s within her reach.
Madison’s outfits had a very modern and sleek style to them, so I wanted to emphasize this through the very modern constructs in the architecture behind her. The only shot that doesn’t necessarily fit this are the pictures set in the cafe, which almost has a nostalgic look that evokes that of the 50s. This was fun, as the colors came out cool, yet vibrant in post.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed through meeting new people in my experience in portrait photography is seeing how like minded many of the people are in the purpose of why we’re working together. We both are mutually wanting to reach a wider audience and to showcase our voices, together. I look forward to organizing another shoot in my calendar with Madison as soon as possible, but I’m sure our paths to a better future is not too far off.