These are some polaroids I shot at the shoot

Here are some out takes and alternate shots from the series

At times a great shoot will come out of the craziest circumstances. I had a model that  dropped out the morning of a shoot. I had hair and make up people lined up, so I desperately started looking for a replacement. Finally I lined up a model by mid afternoon. I called Marcel (the male model), who I had shot with the day before. I asked if he could come shoot some couple shots with her. No matter what we tried, she had no chemistry with him (and it wasn’t for his lack of trying). At one point I got so frustrated, I handed my camera to the make up girl , and marched over to them. As I approached, I looked at Marcel and announced “I’m going to get gay with you for a moment”. I grabbed a bare chested Marcel in an embrace and started cuddling up to him. The  female model was a little shocked. The MUA told me later it was kind of hot. I looked at the model and said “This is what you need to be doing. Pretend he’s your boyfriend”. I rubbed my cheek on his neck, when he suddenly jumped back. I laughed “I’m sorry was that too gay for you?”, “No” he replied “I’ve just never felt a beard up against me before”. Despite my little demonstration, chemistry was never generated. When the shoot was over I felt extremely frustrated. The female model left, and Marcel, the MUA, and myself went out for a bite to eat. Marcel suggested he could call up a friend of his, who wanted to try her hand at modeling, if I was interested in continuing to shoot. I said I was game, but the MUA bowed out, due to exhaustion, after shooting for 3 days straight. The model showed up ready, willing and excited because it was her very first photo shoot. I told them I wanted to do some Calvin Klein type shots in and around the pool. This despite the fact that it was now 10 pm in September (it was in Orange County, Ca, but it still can get chilly there). So I fired up the hot tub for them to warm up in between takes, and we went for it. And boy did they go for it. Unlike the the previous lack luster shoot, these two had chemistry to spare. I shot the whole thing with my on-camera flash,after realizing that’s how  they shot the Calvin Klein ads. I was relieved, since I was too tired to deal with extensive lighting set ups. We shot the whole thing in just over two hours, then relaxed in the hot tub. My point is, even though a project appears to be falling apart, stick with it. You never know when things can suddenly turn around and pay off in a big way.