There were 8 models total: 4 girls, 4 guys. We were assigned our "significant others" that morning, although a few of us were switched around or photographed with more than one partner, to add variety.
Call-time was 10AM in San Francisco, off the Embarcadero, which is right next to the water and the Bay Bridge. I was super excited that the weather was amazingly gorgeous--totally sunny and (for once) not bitterly windy. I arrived early as usual and eventually the models showed up one by one. I was happy that everyone was very social, outgoing and fun...by the time the production crew showed up, all the models felt like we'd known each other for years. I love it when that happens...it makes the job so much easier!
Everyone introduced themselves to each other, then the project director passed out the model release forms for us to fill out. The photographer also took pictures of our photo IDs in order to make sure that everyone was 18+ (this is a standard practice for some shoots, which companies sometimes require for legal purposes).
After the paperwork was out of the way, we were given a shot-sheet, which had reference images of the types of poses we'd be doing. Basically, they were looking for natural, candid poses and a few staged poses. We were supposed to be a couple out on a date (remember, the images are for a dating website) so we had to be comfortable with hugging, holding hands, kisses on the cheek, etc. Definitely rated G stuff (no makeout fests or anything). I managed to shoot some behind the scenes footage...check it out:
My boyfriend for the day was a male model named Paul. Since the photographer was only able to shoot one couple at a time, the rest of us kicked back and socialized with one another. Me and Paul got along right away and I was happy to know he wasn't shy about pretending to be a couple. There was also a video element to the shoot as well.
The actual client was on location and he explained to us that they wanted to use video footage to add some variety to the site. We were given a small handheld camera, which we were supposed to use to videotape each other, as if we were a regular couple shooting footage to upload to Facebook. It wasn't supposed to be perfect or anything--they wanted us to be as natural/believable as possible so me and Paul were totally goofy, blowing kisses to each other, pretending to take a still photo of ourselves with the camera, etc.
Here are some candid pictures from the shoot (these aren't the actual images from the shoot itself...some I took using my camera and others were taken by one of the crew):
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| A candid taken during our lunch break. Yes, he really did put his foot up on purpose for the picture. We were a silly bunch! |
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| Nikki and Shaye playing the role of the happy couple (even though they look super serious right here, haha...don't worry, they were in between shots). |
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| Remember my "hurry up and wait" post about modeling? This is a prime example, lol. A few of the other models hanging out, waiting their turn. All that extra crap in the background is our stuff. That's what happens when you shoot on location! |
The whole day was so much fun and we laughed the entire time. Everyone got along and there were no divas, attitudes or issues...thankfully! We even finished early, which was awesome. At the end of the shoot, we got our checks and everyone exchanged numbers/business cards so that we could keep in touch--especially to let each other know if we came across our images on the dating website(s).
I'm hoping the client will email us to let us know when the photos and site are live...from what we were told, our images will be used as web banners, pop ups and of course the video stuff, as well. All in all, it was the most fun I've had on a Saturday doing modeling and I'm glad I got to make even more new friends in the business. To top it off, the makeup artist was a girlfriend of mine that I went to college with...I hadn't seen her in over 5 years! Talk about a small world!
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