A "Stressful" Photo shoot with Regine.

One of my favorite go-to models is Regine. I first met her about five years ago. I saw her on a fellow photographer's page, and at first, I was interested in creating with her because she was an athlete—a runner, to be exact. She's a member of a bunch of different running teams on the island and is very fit, so doing black-and-white bodyscapes would be a great way to start.

My off-again-on-again collaborative photo shoots with my friend Regine are not unlike other model shoots I go on; as I mentioned previously, I do get anxious before a photo shoot. In the case of Regine, it is because she is here temporarily, and we are rushing to arrange a shoot, so we 'go for it,' as it were, without an idea of how or what we want to shoot.

Regardless of our limited time together, we can come and create. This way, we can catch up and take photos. Regine is always a joy to work with. She is open to ideas and has her own ideas and suggestions, which makes things smoother and definitely adds to the creative process.

I think my point in the past few posts has been about rapport. The ability to connect with the subject we are photographing is such a powerful tool when creating people's photos, and in Regine's case, we were always able to create awesome stuff!

Regine and I have explored any number of ideas with photography. Our very first was a bikini shoot. We live on a tropical island, and it's the first place we go as it's the easiest. Sun, sand, and surf surround us, and we live in a beautiful tropical paradise.

These days, Regine has relocated to Guam, so we have more time to explore different types and styles of photography without the stress of having to hurry and go into a shoot cold and/or without a mood board. In the five years we've known each other, we've only been able to shoot about five or six times. I guess that's not too bad; that would be one shoot a year, but now that she's here for a bit more, look for more collaborations with her in the future!