Today I spent 3 hours in a photo shoot. It was my first time working with a new photographer. First times can be awkward. I must admit that I didn't much care for the experience. With photography, as with any relationship there is either a certain chemistry, or there isn't. As with a new lover, when it's good, it's really good and when it isn't... well it REALLY isn't.
The bumbling awkward moments of self-consciousness. Those heavy prolonged silences and an overall lack of flow typify a grand failure in both types of interactions. It is no accident that photographers will say to models, "Yes, that's right. Like that sweetheart! Yes make love to the camera!" There was none of that today. No excitement on either part, just the insecure bumping of noses and inopportune banging together of teeth as we went for that first kiss so to speak.
If this photographer had been a lover, I would know that I had failed him. But he is not a lover and I will have to wait a few weeks to assess the relative success of our union. Sometimes sex is just easier.
