ShootOut!

I get quite a few emails from people asking me for help - help making their pictures come out different, help thinking up concepts and help making sense of what they want to do with their photography and where they can take it.

I've always found the best way to explain something is to show someone how to do it and then let them do it themselves which is where the idea of the ShootOut was born!

Of course, the idea of getting loads of people together to shoot isn't a new one, but a brilliant one it is. However, I wanted to do something a bit different.
When I was holding my workshops, I was holding them in a studio, with one model to go round. I got great feedback from the aspect of the day which involved everyone shooting the model, and I decided I wanted to build on that.

Which brings me to the first ever ShootOut blogpost - two weeks ago yesterday 10 of us met up in Southend On Sea near London. My car momentarily became Mary Poppins' bag, jam packed full of props, wardrobe and all sorts of weird stuff. We had amazing wardrobe supplied by the brilliant Fabryan clothing designer and two gorgeous models, Charli and Chelsea.

Everyone got time to shoot with the model, as well as assistance and help from me and my trusty sidekick Alex Cameron. With props galore and countless oppurtunities for concepts, poses and genres, we all walked away with not only brilliant pictures but also a lot more knowledge - having everyone there to talk to and bounce off was so beneficial, and it was so great to sit down with everyone and get to know each other.

Here are some pics from the day!











while half the group went to lunch, the rest of us stayed behind and did camera talk... and took pictures of each other ;)











we even made some other friends along the way!







and finally... group shot!! :D and here again you can see some of the other props we bought!



Overall, it was a brilliant day. It was so refreshing to sit down and talk informally about photography and answer questions to people who become your friends, without the pressure of having a "class" to teach. I couldn't have asked for a friendlier bunch of people and I can't wait to see em all again next time I'm down in London!

I am SO excited to host the next ShootOut! Here are the deets:

DATE: Sunday, May 8th 2011
LOCATION: Essex, UK (Newport/Stanstead to be confirmed)

Our next two models:

the beautiful Nhuc Tran

(photo by Paul Godfrey)

and Harper Collins

The all important PROP LIST:

Life size skeleton

600 Ping-pong balls

Vintage shirt dress
Red/Black/Blue/Green/White smoke bombs
An old vintage model ship, possibly to be made into a headpiece

Some homemade awesome bicycle sunglasses (Marc Johns inspired)

and if it will fit in my car, a model plane + pilot goggles & hat



Wardrobe is still comin'!

To sign up or for more info, please shoot me an email to
georgiarosehardy@gmail.com!