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mirror images // creative work

Confession Time: I have a hate/love relationship with my flash.

It can be so easy to disregard it. To say with loftiness,  “Flash? No. I’m a natural light photographer.

But I think that just because I don’t know how to use my flash to the best of my abilities, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t learn. I’ve been in situations where a basic knowledge of flash has been so very important – fill flash on a harsh sunny day, bad church lighting – and I’ve seen results with the flash where I’ve been like “How do they do that? What are they doing? How can I do that? How do I make my flash work like my bff?” And I am tired of feeling like my camera works me, when actually, I am making my camera work. I know how to use my camera. I know how to shoot angles. I know how to take a great photograph.

I just have to learn how to use my damn flash, the way it’s meant to be used.

Practice makes perfect.

Here are a few of my favourite final shots. I was really brutal, cutting them down to the ones where I would be proud to show off. Since this was only for me, I could cull to my heart’s content. A few made the cut.

A few that made the entire freezing cold shoot worth it.

What was I going for? The initial idea was “Mirror Images.” I wanted a dark model and a white/pale model. I wanted to dress them exactly alike. Hair, outfits, make-up, accessories. I wanted to pose them in ways that woudl reflect softness, light, shadows yet this afinity for the environment.

I may have been in over my head.

But it was such a learning experience. A freaking challenge. Where I do consider it the biggest failure of my career yet, but for these final shots, I would try yet again.

There are a few things I would still change, if I could. I’m a perfectionist. But overall, I’m very happy with these. I really like the first three black&white ones, as I saw the entire session in black and white in my head. I wanted to play with shadows and light. I don’t think I really put what was in my head into a photo, but what we did end up with was interesting. The last shot, in colour, was because their expressions, the colours of the graffiti their skin tones – they just worked together.

In hindsight, wardrobe is so important. I wish we had found a pair of white jeans, but all we could come up with was a pair of grey jeans. Which actually looked pretty good. Then I wish I could have put Trudy in a lighter pair of jeans for contrast, but we were already on our way. The moccasins were amazing – gotta love my cultural connections. But if I had put Trudy in a lighter pair of jeans, the black moccasins might have stood out a bit more.

The best part was my models. Trudy and I have worked together many, many times. She’s my go-to girl when I have a new idea in my head. She has a fierce beauty that is so easy to capture, and a softness that is ever elusive, which makes it so much better when I do get random glimpses of it in my work. Charlotte, the blondie, and I have been friends forever but we have never worked together. She was great. She was up for anything, had a ton of great ideas, and was a constructive partner – which I almost bit her head off for (sorry, Char). She had all these ideas and I was like “Trudy, shut her up. I’m thinking.”

Thank G we’re all good friends. Because I’m a rude menace sometimes.

The Details:

Models: Trudy John and Charlotte Mihalicz

Hair & Make-Up: Shayla Weisbrot

2 comments
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  • LanaJanuary 25, 2012 - 10:22 PM

    Trudy is the perfect go-to model and I thought Charlotte did amazing! Especially b/c you guys haven’t worked together before 🙂 I want to see morrreeee!ReplyCancel

    • Tenille CampbellJanuary 26, 2012 - 4:06 PM

      lol. I don’t know about more but i will be posting some behind the scenes images. And yeah, Char was really good.ReplyCancel

welcome tho.

Welcome to the blog, showcasing the latest sessions and adventures. In case you missed it, I'm Tenille, Dene photog, living in Treaty Six, YXE. Feel free to lose a couple hours creeping around, and drop a line if you have any questions.

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