Not so long ago I met Triin, we did a photoshoot together and she turned out to be a really cool, super interesting person. Just before I left Estonia we thought that it would be cool go to go the beach just before midnight, just talk about stuff and chill a little. Obviously, this was me naively thinking that Estonian weather at the end of August would allow for such an outing, it didn't, It was way too cold and windy for the beach so we went to the studio instead and hung out there. We found some leftover cake and lemonade in the fridge and actually had a really good time. The problem with the studio though is that it's kind of inevitable to not have a shoot at some point, especially if your friend is wearing an amazing bodysuit like Triin was. It's not often that I get to do these really spontaneous photo-shoots. It's a real shame because they're really amazing, they tend to have this "lets just try this and maybe we get something cool" vibe. That is so necessary if you want to experiment with new ideas, it puts you into this scenario where it doesn't really matter if you fail at the photo miserably. You feel free to experiment with stuff you wouldn't normally experiment with on a shoot that's been prepared, at least not fully.
Triin getting ready to shoot!
Triin managed to find some shoes with some really high heels from the closet and off we went. I figured a black background would work best for this kind of stuff. The light was pretty simple, just one humongous soft box to light up Triin's entire body. As you can see below, the legs are a pretty big part of the image and at first we had some trouble highlighting them. Baby-oil is great for this stuff, it gives the skin those necessary highlights which draws out the body rather nicely. The thing I love about shooting with Triin is that she moves really nicely, she's not afraid of trying a little bit unorthodox poses and she has this wonderful ability to bring out her best features.
The final shot.
Another fun fact about this shoot is that I only brought a tiny 50mm lens with me. I had no idea we'd actually do a shoot so I didn't really bring anything big and heavy with me. I'm bringing this up because so many people are holding themselves back from photography because they think they haven't got the necessary gear. Trust me, gear is one of the least important things when it comes to photography. Yes it helps, it can make things a lot easier and although I took this with a 50mm, I was still in a professional studio with amazing light equipment so this isn't exactly fair but it is so much more important to be creative and figure out how to get the result you want with the gear you have available to you rather than bitching and whining about not having the necessary equipment. The equipment makes no difference if you're not being creative.