The Story of Ava

The first time we met her was on a collaboration for a pin-up shoot at our studio.

Kirstian is a local model who was interested in some different looks for her portfolio and we were wanting to just play with some different lighting/posing techniques, so one thing led to another and we set up an evening to get together and do a little photographic/modeling experimentation. When she first came in the door she informed us that she had JUST found out she was pregnant!

Heather and I looked at each other and said, "Oh really", while rubbing our hands together with hungry looks in our eyes...we may have even had an evil laugh or two - lol

Luckily, that didn't scare Kirstie and her new little belly bump off and she immediately was on board with the idea of a monthly documentation of her and her changing body. What a wonderful 9 months it turned out to be and we will forever be indebted to Kirstie and Ava for the amazing experience and excellent learning opportunity it gave me and Heather...and we learned a ton!

First thing we learned...don't assume.

When Kirstie came for her first session she also brought the father of her soon-to-be little one. We snapped a couple of solo shots of Kirstie but then our main focus was some real cool shots of them together...him with his hand on her belly, both of them looking down at the growing bump, the lighting really dramatic and cool. They came out just perfect. We drew diagrams of the lighting with power settings and all distances written down...all camera settings noted and saved.

They broke up 2 weeks later.

Sooooo, with all of the chaos going on in her life, it was understandably a couple of months until we could get her back to our studio...and then, we only had 2 or 3 solo photos to choose from that we could base the rest of her pregnancy shots on.

Lessons #1 to #10 : Take several solo shots of mama, even if dad shows up and is suppose to be in the pics. Ya' just never know...

But really, other than that, the only other things we messed up on was that the White Balance was set different a time or two, but that was easily corrected in post, and we also wasn't able to get Kirstie and Ava back in for the final shot within 2 weeks of her birth, so by the time she came, Ava was a month old squirming, peeing, pooping, puking, down-right gorgeous little girl. Seriously, try and do newborn shots within 2 weeks of birth...a lot less drama!

The actual trickiest thing of all, though, is getting the body position of your model perfect. What really helped was having a print of the very first shoot sitting right there on the floor in front of us as we took all the next months photos. That way you could make sure the light looked close, the head was tilted close, that you were sitting at the same height...just all those little things that would make them flow a little better when you started linking them all side by side. The consistency in the photos in our opinion is what really sets the series off. Next time, we'll even do better!

So again, thanks to the lovely Kirstie and beautiful Ava for such a wonderful few months! What an amazingly special time that we feel honored to have gotten a chance to share with you!

(Lighting was 2 Alien Bee B800's behind Kirstie at 45 degree's on each side at 1/4 power and 1 - B800 through an 47" Octabox above and in front of Kirstie at 1/4 power)

Jeffrey