WHEN THE SHOOT MAKES ITSELF UP AS IT GOES

Most of the time, when I plan a shoot, I do the heavy lifting. I work out the ideas, the posing, the tone, the whole feel of it before we start, so the person in front of me can relax and just be guided. That suits a lot of people, especially anyone who’d rather not have to think on the day.

This wasn’t that.

April and I have shot together a lot, portraits and boudoir, creative work of all kinds. So this time we did something looser. We picked a wardrobe, a location and a mood, and then we just went, wandering the grounds looking for spots that felt right and chasing the light as the afternoon dropped toward sunset.

I’d asked her only for a certain kind of outfit, something with detail and texture, natural and earthy, linen if she had it. The rest was hers. She chose everything, and that was the point. This is the kind of shoot for someone who has their own ideas, or wants a say in where we go, someone creative who just needs a hand pulling it into shape.

We were at the Hamilton Gardens, but not in the themed gardens, out on the grounds and up near the old cemetery, where the trees get tall and the light comes through sideways. I brought ideas and we tried them. She brought ideas and we tried those too, including soaking her hair and the dress right at the end, which gave us some of the best frames of the whole evening.

The whole thing was calm. Unhurried. We weren’t chasing a shot list, we were following a feeling, and we aimed to finish up high as the last of the light went gold.

April loved the photos. But she loved the experience just as much, and on a shoot like this that matters just as much as the results. We’ve since taken some of these frames and turned them into digital negatives for cyanotype contact prints, which feels like exactly the right ending for something this hands-on.

This way of working isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t meant to be. But if you’re the kind of person who’d rather trust your gut on the day than plan every detail, this might be your kind of shoot.

— Tony

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