No regrets when shooting, a tale about Nicky

I have regrets. I know it's terrible, but I do. Nicky is one of them. Finding my footing with her took me a bit of time. She is a beautiful young lady, but I, for whatever reason, had a bit of difficulty finding my footing with her and figuring out the best way to shoot her, etc.

We did what I always do when working with a new subject: we did bikinis. It's easy; we live near a beach and are in the tropics; it's an ideal location for some. Plus, almost everyone who lives here has some sort of swimwear. Models on the island come and go, and if you don't figure out what, why, and all the other "w's" of shooting the model, the opportunity will pass very quickly.

We also did some experiments when I got some new gear in. This time, I got this cool camera, which made square instant film. Those pictures were good, but I felt they needed more to be worth something, and to me, they looked just like snapshots.

I have a friend who is a photographer who also shares my regrets. FOMO is real when you've not worked through your photo shoot, i.e., what gear or lighting you'll need; eventually, the model will move on to another state or photographer, and you will have missed your moment.

At the very least, it's important to have a semblance of an idea of what you want to shoot before approaching someone to be your model—at least, ideas you've seen from another photographer or in a magazine!