Fashion Photoshoot with Audrey Chen

Audrey initially proposed shooting during sunset but I counter-proposed doing it at night instead. The reasons were that (1) I wasn't very sure if we could catch the sunset at the location due to the buildings around, which would defeat the purpose and (2) the duration given was far too short (enough to set up a strobe and test the exposure) as she had to attend a wedding dinner shortly later in the evening.

I wasn't sure what time her dinner would end and thus I arrived there near 10pm. Half an hour later, she was more certain of the time and informed me that it would end at 11pm. I took the chance to explore the park nearby since I rarely would get out of my house.

The biggest mistake I made the night was to abandon my trolley, which would help to lessen half of the load on my shoulders. Without the main backpack on my shoulders, I could easily alternate the large sling bags as well. Since I always brought along extra equipment just for emergencies and the wind was stronger than usual, I added two heavy-duty light stands (that could help to withstand wind better) into the main sling bag, together with other equipment like softboxes. The strain on my left shoulder caused my old injury to relapse.

As I hadn't been feeling well, I managed to improve my sleeping routine during that period. Therefore, I had already felt the effect of the sleep bugs when I got there. By the time I saw them from right across the road, I was dragging my feet, partly due to the extremely slow traffic light and the irritant from my shoulder's injury.

By the time we began the shoot, it was already near midnight. As I knew her boyfriend was lack of sleep, I was extremely pressured to end the shoot quick, which was totally not my working style. On the other hand, they were very well-accommodating and even suggested to I proceed to more locations.

Audrey was also very chilled while waiting for me to set up the lighting and for the slow focusing of the lens due to the dim light situation. She also repeated some moves just to increase the chances of getting better photographs. The fact that she insisted on carrying on with the shoot when her feet were already in pain due to wearing the heels for long hours - her enthusiasm for the shoot - was very comforting.

For sure, it was great to work with people who appreciated the fact that the photographer had to prepare and bring heavy and bulky equipment over to the shooting location, spend energy and time to set up the lighting, just to make sure the model's face was properly lighted up and in very soft light.

The effort spent on the shoot was worth it as we got some good work.