The first shoot is in the books. Admittedly it was a rough weekend for timing. Halloween, daylight savings time, and good ole fashioned “my ride is sick” circumstances contributed to one cancelation and one rescheduling. Luckily, I was able to fit a shoot in with Crysta on Sunday afternoon.

Truth be told, this was a good thing, all the postponing and rescheduling. To be honest, my nerves were going a little bananas for some reason. All last week was like getting ready for the first game of the season. Anticipation followed by anxiety followed by excitement. Thinking of all the looks I wanted to capture, trying to figure out how to “direct” during a photo shoot. If you’re about to do your first shoot with someone you do not know and you have yet to think about these things, you definitely should. And not just because I want to you get inside your own head about it like I had to, but because once I got started shooting, I didn’t have to think about that stuff. And that’s important for the creative process.

It was definitely a good thing to get the heavy mental lifting out the way beforehand. Once we got started, everything had a very natural flow to it. Interestingly, as we reviewed our photos after the shoot, we saw a very noticeable progression of our comfort level with each other. I talked about how I look through the camera, what I try and find in expressions, and my experiences capturing moments in film and photography.

As we moved around our location, we kept focusing on the story being told and how Crysta was telling it to the camera. (Hint: it’s all in the eyes.) Her connection with the camera was more evident as her confidence and our connection grew. As it turns out, most of the shots I will be using for the magazine came from the latter part of our shoot.

So that got me thinking. At least for me, it’s better to shoot with someone you know. Or at least someone you’ve gotten to know over the last hour. I have met a couple of the other models that I will be shooting over the next couple weeks, so it will be interesting to see how those shoots go (compared to meeting just before shooting).

With the nerves out of the way and the game face on, it looks like this project is well on its way to being pretty great. If you want to see some of the photographs as I finish them, check out (and subscribe to) Criminal Minima, my photo blog. If you’re a model, photographer, creative director, or any other amazing person looking to make something cool and you would like to work together, send me a note.

Much more to come, so stay tuned…

+Joe+