In the Heart of Downtown

After a long wait

The last modeling photoshoot I did was back in February of this year. It's crazy to think that it has been over 6 months since my last model shoot. Looking back though, I had a LOT of things going on, with the biggest one being that I found out I would be a father a second time. The other reason that kept me from doing more was the lack of time. Between family vacations, my full-time job and working on my house to prepare for my second child, photography was really put on the back burner. However, I had an opportunity present itself to me over the summer. I reached out to a small brand on instagram called VLNT Designs (@VLNT_DESIGNS) because his designs were just so unique and resonated with my personal style. After some talking, he graciously sent me two shirts to use for promotional photoshoots. I finally had a new charge as a photographer, doing promotional work for brand clients.

Some Obstacles

I started working immediately on trying to set up a shoot. However, one of the hottest summers in almost a decade decided to hang out in Texas for the summer. Temperatures of over 100 degrees plagued the state for most of the summer, so shooting outside was not an option.

So, I had to wait.

For almost three months, I waited out the blazing heat.

Another hurdle I had to tackle was finding the time to do the shoot itself. With me living an hour away, it made it very difficult to coordinate a time with models. Unfortunately, I got hit with a few cancellations, which was fine, when you work with models and no money is exchanged, the potential for cancellation increases, not a big deal, you learn to work with that as a small-time photographer.

Picking the Skills Right Back Up

It's funny how you can train yourself and the muscle memory can pick it right back up after months of not using them. Once Taylor was ready, we got to work. After a couple of shots, I was able to get back into the swing of things, composing the shots, getting the lighting and exposure right, was like I never stopped. Didn't hurt that Taylor was an absolute pro, she knocked out pose after pose like it was nothing. The shots on the stairs were great starters, with a few bangers, but as we kept going, the shots would get better and better. It was a blast getting to do these, building up my portfolio a bit more, as well as adding more content for my book, but more on that later....

In the Heart of Downtown

So downtown Bryan is an incredible location, with incredible amounts of texture and character. The area we met had several historical landmarks, easily identifiable by locals and great for creating unique images and backdrops. One thing I did notice about downtown is the abundance of stairs. There are several staircases leading to other businesses on upper floors. The town, if anything, is very efficient on its use of space. There are definitely some iconic locales that I would love to use again for future shoots, but I also saw lots of other places that I didn't get to use due to time.

Some Unique Photos of My Own

I have been slowly working on developing a unique set of photos that aren't normally seen on social media. Those are part of a series I call Surrealism, images that you can't typically create only with your imagination. I love how Taylor totally leaned into them, and gave me some great shots to create.

Promotional Shoot

Once we got in some portfolio shots done after two outfits, we moved into the promotional shoot for VLNT. Taylor was able to rock the style incredibly well, and she was starting to show that she was having fun as well. We were able to capture the vibe of both shirts, the tape being the better of the two, in my own opinion. These shoots were so much fun to do, and were a great inspiration for me to prepare for my own brand, which I will have a link to that at the bottom of this BLOG. I'll let the images speak for themselves though, what do you think of them?

In Review

I was so happy that I got to do this shoot, because I was able to build a working relationship with a brand, and help him out in getting his merchandise out there, and I was finally able to build some networking connections in the Bryan/College Station area. I'm motivated now more than ever to continue and work to get my name out there, since there are a lot of photographers in this area, so it is very competitive here. Of course, this isn't my primary job, so it will have to take a back seat to my other priorities first, but I will always try to take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself. I hope to keep doing more shoots, and as I do, I will write about it and share it with all of you. Thank you all so much for reading this, and if you made it this far, share it with somebody.