Weather is always a factor

Weather is always a deciding factor on this island, whether to shoot or not, but it doesn't have to be. In my time on this island, I have learned that thinking fast and making changes on the fly is key.

I only recently had to figure things out fast during a senior photo session when the skies suddenly opened and emptied all the water out. So, we did an impromptu rain photo session. Thankfully, though, for that shoot, the rain eventually stopped. We even got a beautiful sunset, which I was able to capture and incorporate into her photo session!

This sort of go-go-go can get tiring, but at the end of the shoot, you'll feel it was all worth it.

I was on a magazine shoot once, and the whole concept was a beach shoot. We had beautiful weather all week, and we were confident. On the day of the shoot, heavy clouds and rain, but because of the weather on the island, we postponed the shoot to the afternoon because usually, the weather clears - it did not, and we had a deadline.

A decision was made to make it a studio shoot, taking all the ideas and doing it indoors; shot for shot, it would be done in a studio. I was feeling stressed because a number of the shots would be impossible to replicate indoors, but I was up for the challenge.

It took over 8 hours to shoot because I had many lighting challenges. But we worked as a team, and we were able to brainstorm ideas and create some pretty good work!

The design features and premise of the shoot were 'altered' because of weather restrictions. This is a rarity, as most publications choose to postpone due to inclement weather. On Guam, however, we don't always have that luxury.

Ultimately, Our job as visual artists is to go with the flow, make suggestions, and create based on the client's needs.