This past Friday I joined forces with some fellow photographers for a South Atlanta Flickr model shoot.  A bit nervous regarding the outing, as I have never shot models prior to this, I was more excited about what I would be learning from the others there.  I was not disappointed.

First, a special thank you to the kind folks at Urban Photographix for not only joining in on the fun, but loaning out their space at NO EXPENSE to anyone involved.  A selfless act for the love of photography!  I was also impressed with the SAF group in general.  No egos.  Only a love for photography.  Great bunch to be around.

We were afforded two models.  The first, Algae, had never modeled before.  However, that was not anything that stopped her from providing us with plenty to shoot.  Of course, not having any basis for a true comparison, I guess it is entirely possible that she did a bad job.  Yet, in my eyes, she did exactly the opposite and was great the entire time!

The second, Danielle, was rather unique in that she was not only a model, but quite handy behind the lens as well.  Lastly, all of the styling was provided by Deena.  Danielle has a certain look about her.  It is powerful.  Her eyes speak as you photograph them and I believe that their true power cannot be picked up by the camera itself.  That alone made shooting her even more compelling.

I found that I do not know enough about my camera and thirst for more.  I found that I can look at photos of models and determine an interesting pose from one that is not, yet I have limited ability in directing such poses on the fly.  Julie has mastered it, however, and I will attribute any great pose from this photo shoot to her.  I also found that shooting locations, while important, do not have to be extravagant.  Where we ended up was not the most glamorous location in the world.  However, the styling, models, and environment all seemed to have a flow about them which provided interesting results.

Enough rambling. Here are some highlights from the photos I took:

Danielle’s set
Algae’s set

On a side note, I have officially fallen in love with my 10-20.  I had a blast shooting with it and got the results I wanted in-camera.  I also used the Nikkor 50mm much more than I thought I would.  In fact, the lens I normally rely on for just about everything, the 18-200, I didn’t even take out of my bag.  I used the wide angle and fiddy exclusively.  While I do not own the most expensive lenses in the world, I certainly do not regret any of the purchases I have made thus far.  My next step will be some lighting equipment.

Take a minute and check out what the others snagged during the shoot over at Flickr.

Dan Edwards - http://www.flickr.com/photos/divotfilms/
Julie Harnage – http://www.flickr.com/photos/13657920@N04/
Allison & Jay (Urban Photographix) - http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanphotographix/