Our first shoot, I hope it’s not our last.

Model is Heather Lewin

The Bathroom is the scene of the crime. I like shooting girls there, it always feels just a tad more honest. A tad more… scary.

It’s scary being yourself.

Model is Maloree Johnson

Thank you to the Framed crew and everyone involved with this project! It was a fabulous time! For more great photography content visit www.framedshow.com

:: Shoot Credits ::

Model
Kelli Branam

Creative Team
Steven Robertson (hair), Brittney Wiseman (makeup), Mckell Maddox (wardrobe)

Photo Assistants
Tiffany Sanchez, Ryan Muirhead, Dave Brewer, Steven Wood, Heather Lewin

Special Thanks
Lunatic Fringe and the staff at the UofU Burn Center.

My first shoot with Paige, I asked her if she’d be up for trying out a different kind of test shoot.  Different for me that is, maybe not for you.  Hard to say.

Instead of spending the night shooting we sat down somewhere.

We talked and I got to know Paige.  The small things.

Every once in awhile I stole a genuine expression during a genuine moment. A glimpse, a detail.  These are the things a brain like mine sees… when the rest of me is sitting still.

I like to think that part of the genuineness might be captured, and possibly even conveyed. To you, the viewer.

That is my artist statement, of sorts.

I hope you find it as fascinating of a process as I found Paige as a person.  Thanks much for your sla.  Short for slang.  You wouldn’t get it, unless you know her, which I guess is kind of the point?

A journey in documenting a person rather than a face.  That is my new inspiration.  I’ve finally found the words.  More images like this to come.

Much more.

For now let’s just call it my vacation from photography.

(Click for a much bigger version)

I made the digital drawing using a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet and Adobe Photoshop.  Every stroke you see was done by hand.  I’m not positive how long it took because I did it over the course of a week… probably around 15 hours or more.  Model is Katherine, from a shoot from a few years ago.

More are in progress… hopefully.

Over the years I have tried various ways to systematize the process and in 2010 I decided to REALLY work on a solution.  I created a form on my website (details on setting it up are later in this post) which allowed me to do a couple things easily.

1. Collect ALL the information I needed without back and forth emails.
2. Keep all the applicants in one place for easy reference (as opposed to checking email, facebook, myspace, modelmayhem etc. etc.)
3. With a simple disclaimer I let everyone know that I’d only be contacting them if they were selected, saving me from writing a half dozen emails a week explaining my limited time… which EVERYONE takes the wrong way, by the way.

My current system has been active since April of 2010, with a 3.5 month hiatus from October 2010 to January 2011.  I’ve had amazing applicants and even though I still get the random (rather annoying) message about how to apply it has dramatically cut down on the time it takes me to sort through the requests.

Fun Facts (May 2010 to March 2011)

• Approximate days the current application has been online: 225
• Number of applications received: 277
• Average number of applications received per day: 1.21
• Number of applicants selected for a test shoot since May 2010: 16*
• Percentage chance of being selected: 6.8%*

*These represent best guesses, since I easily could have missed a few here and there.

Here’s how I set it up.

I have an account at Aweber so people can sign up for my FREE email list (which I also use at http://www.garnmuirhead.com) and the cool thing about Aweber is it allows you to create multiple lists and create custom forms for people to fill out to be on the list… so, I simply created a new email list and new form for the model application.

Here’s the form I created for my website.

You can try a $1 trial by visiting jakegarn.aweber.com.  It might seem a bit complex to set up but once you get the hang of it it’s quite simple really. Once it was set up I didn’t have to touch it again.

Side note: I also use ConstantContacts for email marketing other businesses which is about the same cost, but it doesn’t allow custom forms.  Both cost about the same… but I prefer aweber for my photography site.

When someone fills out the application two things happen.

1. I get an email and Gmail is set-up to automatically sort the applications into one folder
2. The applicant gets a confirmation email with instructions on how to complete the application.  The instructions include a request for them to email photos of themselves and answer some simple YES or NO questions on their availability (schedule and posing).

So why the second email?

As I mentioned this is not the only system I’ve tried, and I find that having a two-step process cuts out people that aren’t all that serious about it, which has enabled me to schedule shoots with the most responsible models cutting my flakes down to nearly zero.

So does the system work?

If nobody ever filled out an application ever again I would still consider it to be a huge success.  Here are just a couple reasons why. 

Demi filled out an application on August 31st 2010.

Jillian filled out an application on September 4th, 2010.

Additional Marketing Advantage

As someone with a marketing background I can tell you that collecting information from people specifically interested in your services is invaluable.  I don’t shoot for a living so I don’t really have plans to do this but how cool would it be to send out an email to the 200+ people that have filled out a form over the last couple hundred days offering them a discounted photoshoot for a limited time.

It would probably be a quick way to pick up a few paying clients rather quickly and since these are people that willingly gave you their information because they are interested in your work and Aweber AUTOMATICALLY lets anyone unsubsribe from your email list at any time it doesn’t count as spam! 

Disclaimer:  I do get an incentive if you sign up for Aweber using the link I provided, I would recommend them without the incentive but since they offer it I’d be silly not to use it.  I’ve been paying for the service for almost a year and I have no complaints so it definitely gets my seal of approval! 

I started working on this image of Samantha and I saw something that wasn’t there.  I found a blank sheet of paper and a pen I accidentally stole from the bank and started sketching.  All angel wings.  Different styles, until on the third or fourth sketch I tried just wiggly lines.

Then the image spoke to me.  I’ve been having several deep conversations with many people this week and in almost every one of them the topic has brushed on the work of unseen angels amongst us.

I sincerely believe there are angels amongst us.  Do you?

Here’s to hoping we all have the courage to act on our personal discoveries.

Dedicated to one of my favorite models.  She knows.

Post Script

After starting this blog post I noticed the similarity to one of Ryan Muirhead‘s masterpieces.  Re-posted here without his permission.  (he can sue me if he wants but I’d counter sue him for the $80 filter I bought from him that still hasn’t been delivered.  EDIT: Ryan immediately wrote me claiming he brought me the filter, the matter is currently under investigation.

The similarities are unintentional and there may be influence but simultaneous similarities are too abundant not to ignore.  This tells me something about ideas…

Models are Samantha Law and Lianna Hartley

I hope you enjoy it.