Reflections from Recent Trip - Second Installment
I
left Bangkok after having completed a shoot with Nardia and Nattimus,
bound for Hong Kong. I didn''t have any shoots lined up in Hong
Kong, nor in any cities in China for that matter. I'd had a few
email exchanges with some models discovered through Model Mayhem, as
well as a couple referrals from another photographer in Hong Kong,
and an (unsuccessful) attempt to connect through a Chinese language MM equivalent.
However, none of these resulted in a clear agreement to shoot, or
were in some indeterminate state before I'd actually arrived in Hong
Kong.
It
would have been quite easy to arrange for shoots in Hong Kong proper,
but I had avoided plans to shoot there. Hotels in Hong Kong are just
incredibly expensive and/or small, so I didn't want to fork out the
huge cash outlay just to shoot in a decent place in Hong Kong,
especially because I'd been to HKG so many times already. Also,
since I'm able to speak some Chinese (Mandarin), and always trying to
learn more, I really wanted to go into China where I would be more
compelled to use my Chinese. I also had plans to visit a friend who
is currently living in Zhongshan (a small city not far from Hong
Kong, but in China), so I figured I'd go up to Guangzhou after
visiting my friend.
After
staying in Zhongshan a few days (really cold compared to Bangkok!), I
boarded a bus bound for Guangzhou. I didn't have any friends or
prior acquaintances in Guangzhou, but did have the phone number of
one model I'd exchanged a few emails with. I ended up not shooting
with her, because she's primarily a nude model. It's not that I
object to shooting nude, but I have found that I'm more creative when
the question of wardrobe, as well as that element of mystery, is more
in play with non-nude subjects. Plus she wanted to charge me substantially more than I'm accustomed to paying, which I interpret as some
indifference on the model's part in working with me.
It
was uncomfortably cold in Guangzhou my first evening there, and I
found myself grateful for having brought gloves with me. I wandered
around a bit (actually a lot – almost two hours of walking) to get
a feel the part of the city I was staying in. I took dinner in a
small an inexpensive restaurant serving local fare, then afterward
wandered into a small Japanese restaurant and bar. It wasn't very
crowded, and as I sat at the bar and exchanged a few words in Chinese
with the barmaid, I learned that she also spoke some English. We
chatted quite a lot, and since I had my laptop with me, I was able to
show her some of my photography work. She'd never modeled, but
indicated she would possibly be interested to shoot with me. She
didn't have any traditional Chinese dresses, but I noticed a place
nearby where I could buy a cheongsam quite inexpensively. I told her
I'd buy her one if she'd shoot with me. So we both agreed to meet
the next day and go shopping for the dress. We were both pretty
thrilled to have discovered one another.
Sometime
late in the evening, my mobile phone chimed with the notice of
incoming text messages. It was from a model, commenting on my
photography style (she asked if I had a stocking fetish – I hadn't been asked that before!). I
wasn't sure which model this was at the time, since I'd sent a few
emails out that pretty much went unanswered. She sent me the link to
her profile, which I checked upon my return to my hotel, and I was
quite pleased to discover it was Milly. We'd agreed to shoot the
very next day (Milly's link below).
So
I went to bed feeling quite good that having arrived in town half a
day earlier and no shooting prospects, I had lined up what looked
like two shoots already. I especially like it when I make a
connection with someone who's not modeled before. I'm not sure why
that is – maybe it's something like discovering a new talent, or
helping a woman to discover that she likes to model and also realize
how beautiful she can be represented if photographed well.
The
next day I was a little bit surprised that the gal from the Japanese
restaurant actually did call me (Sasa). I thought she might have
second thoughts, but she did call me and we met up at the hotel and
walked over to the shop where I spotted reasonably priced Chinese
dresses. She seemed pretty happy to find one she liked, and we also
bought a couple small accessories (earrings, hair pin). We finished
up our shopping trip, had a cup of coffee, then went our separate
ways as I had to start a shoot with Milly, and she had to go to work.
I
arrived back at my hotel just in time to put a few things in order,
get my flash units set up, etc., before getting a message that Milly
had arrived. I found her to be even more charming in person that her
portfolio would have me believe, and we worked very well together.
In fact, after the shoot and taking time to review the shots, we
agreed we both wanted to shoot one more time while I was in town.
The
third day in Guangzhou became delightfully warm and springlike, so
Sasa and I decided to take some shots in a local park. It was a bit
non-ideal, since we started around mid-day, and she'd have to start
work in mid-afternoon. So we had the mid-day sun to deal with which, as expected, made managing highlights and shadows quite
challenging. We also did a few shots in my hotel room, which came
out pretty nicely. She was very pleased, and passed the word onto
one of her coworkers who I also ended up doing a shoot with (Sasa
also talked with one of her friends who wanted to shoot, but she
wasn't available until after I'd be leaving Guangzhou).
Overall,
it was a really great trip. I arrived in Guangzhou with no
definitive plans to do any model shoots, but still managed to have
four separate shoots. I had one “off” day where I strolled
around and took in some local color, as well as snapping a few
pictures of street life there (I welcome you see some works in my
“other” Flickr site:
I
often reflect on how much of a thrill it is for me to be involved in
photography, and especially being fortunate enough to create images
with the lovely women I meed along the way. This pursuit leads me on
many interesting adventures and provides a pathway of meeting many
good friends along the way. I
know I'm a lucky man.
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