The First Shoot

     Today was my first shoot that will be dedicated to my project.  Like many other types of photography, when creating a composite there is so much to do before and after any work with the camera and in this post I will walk you through my process.

1: There has to be an idea:
     People often ask me how I come up with ideas and the answer is that inspiration can come from anywhere.  This particular shoot idea came after viewing some images created by Lorretta Lux (you can find her work here: http://lorettalux.de/).  Lorretta Lux and her style of photography was mentioned and recommended to me during two different webinars so I took some time to look through her work.  I enjoy her use of simple lines and solid colors and her soft delivery of her children's images.  Even though my images will be very different than Lorretta's nevertheless this is where inspiration struck. 

 2: Aquiring and child models:
     Because my project is being created for children who are experiencing difficult moments or siuations I decided to use children in the pictures that are currently or have experienced hard childhood things as well.  I knew of a set of twins locally with a backstory I will share later on in the project who graciously agreed to sit for me.

3. Composition planning:
     Even though I had a general idea of the images I wanted to created I still had to fine tune the composition and all the elements I would use.  And I wanted to include the children and incorporate their personalities into the images as well.  After talking with the children, their mother and their nanny I had some great ideas.

     4: Next I start with drawings and lists:
     In composite photography you create one fluid image out of many so you have to be so careful to keep consistent lighting and shoot with accurate perspective and angle.  I sketch out (and I use the word sketch very loosely as you can see below why I am a photographer and not an artist of other medium) each image with all the elements and then make lists of the shots I need from each one, including important things to remember like where I want their eyes or the angles of their hands.  Here is a screen shot example- I like to call this the chicken-scratch stage.... since that is what my 6th grade teacher used to tell me my handwriting resembled :)

     5: Wardrobe and props:
     Now that I know what I want in my images I have to actually acquire them.  Since most photographers I know are not wealthy, myself included, I make a thorough use of all the local thrift shops, and often borrow from friends and neighbors.  Amazon or ebay usually is the last resource but comes in handy occasionally.  I'll have very specific things in mind and am known to cut, redesign, spray paint or hot glue until it resembles what I need.  For instance, in this shot I needed short pants for the boy and so I purchased some dress pants at the local thrift shop then chopped and sewed them shorter.  My sewing machine and I are not friends and typically I turn to the hot-glue gun first if possible but this leaned to seams only and I was able to complete the alteration without any unpicking or angry name-calling.

     6: Actual shooting:
     Once everything is ready the fun begins!  Referring to my lists, I systematically shoot bit by bit until I feel I have each piece to work with.  Working with children, and in this case cats, that is usually no small amount and for this particular shoot I shot over 200 images with which I hope to create 6 final pieces.  Now the editing process begins.