Test photos for new model at the Diversity Agency.

A few weeks ago I got a commission from The Diversity Agency. I'm about to tell you how everything went wrong, and how I fixed before The Diversity Agency ever found out. 

It started out simple. 1 model, 1 look, 4 photos, and "not too avant-garde". The hardest part was only having 4 days to organise the shoot. Turns out I ended up needing every second of those 4 days. 

The first thing to go wrong was the studio cancelling my booking. Not the worst thing that could go wrong, but I had to scramble to find a new studio. Its not easy to find a studio space in under 4 days, but I managed.

The next issue turned out to be the one I was most confident wouldn't be an issue, finding an assistant. I have a list of over 5 people I know who can assist for me. 3 of them were on holiday out of the country, others already had work that day, and another had a family matter. Before I knew it I had exhausted my entire list of assistants. This was the only issue that I didn't manage to resolve in the end. But I worked around it. I know how to do my own lighting, put together my own sets, and manage my own equipment. So I built a bit of extra time into the shoot and did everything myself, inconvenient, but manageable. 

Now for those of you who don't know me, I don't live in London (for now), so I don't know many creatives in the city. I met a stylist a few weeks prior at London Fashion Week, who kindly agreed to work with me on this shoot, but I still needed hair and makeup. A few posts on Instagram and Facebook later I had found someone. That is until 11:00pm the night before the shoot, when I woke up to get some water, and noticed on my phone a message from the hmua just 50 minutes prior letting me know she wasn't coming to the shoot. 

As much as I know about taking photos, I know very little about doing makeup, so I had to find someone who could come to this shoot, with less that 24 hours notice. I spent the next 4 hours, until 3am messaging people and asking on public forms, with no luck. I went to bed thinking I was going to have to cancel the shoot in the morning, but I persevered and only 2 hours before the call time I found someone who could do both hair and makeup, and was free to show up such last minute. 

There were other relatively minor issues, a windows update that corrupted my computer, delays on tube, rain, but in less than 4 days, with numerous issues, I had shot, and ultimately delivered early: 9 photos and 3 looks, more than the required 4 photos and 1 look, without anyone knowing (until now) just how much had gone wrong.

So if your in need of a photographer who will get it done, no matter what goes wrong, I am the one for you, and if your a model agency in need of tests, reach out.

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 100ii

Photography and retouching by me.

HMUA: Iryna Tretiak

Styling: Sarah Craig

Model: Lucy Ellen