After quite a hiatus, I returned to New York City in October of 2024 to shoot with the amazing Valentina Beli who was not only the model for this work but also took my mood board and turned it into reality. The wardrobe, makeup, and hair were all done by her, and there's also no doubt that her contributions as a creative partner during the shoot were essential to its success. This type of dynamic is far more frequent than I'd like to admit to myself - most of the credit for the quality of the photographs produced has to do more with other people working on the shoot than myself. And that might bother me more than it should if it wasn't for something that a well-known legit fashion photographer had told me several years ago:
'Fashion photography is easy - you just have to not f*ck it up."
'Fashion photography is easy - you just have to not f*ck it up."
Whether or not I f*cked this up? Well, that's all in the eye of the beholder.
Look #1
This was the first time Valentina and I had worked together, and it's not unusual for me to feel a little uneasy at first as we both figured out each other's work styles, and it seemed like it took no time at all for us to settle into a rhythm. For me, when that happens, my brain puts the whole rest of the world on pause. The feeling is really indescribable, and it's one of the main reasons why despite the ups and downs, I find myself always coming back to shoot more.
The outfit below was the perfect for us to shoot first - it was relaxed and stylish and got us off on the right foot. I love the pleated skirt, and the leather belt and shoes. The light bouncing off the buildings between 1st and 2nd was nice and soft, but you can see red casts where it bounces off red-brick buildings, turning her blonde hair red. I debated trying to retouch it out, but decided to keep it. The other thing worth noting of this series is the decolletage in the second image. This is something that I definitely wanted to include in the shoot - there was a lot of it in the moodboard, but I'll be honest, it's really easy to over-do it, and more times than I can count I have shot fashion looks with a provocative look through the bustline, and ended up with just a pile of discards, where the image is no longer confident and feminine fashion and crosses the line into glamour, and I'm really happy that this hit the mark.
Look #2
I liked the hip & confident styling of this look, so much so that I'm quite sure I shot far more photos of this than I needed. Most of all, I feel like we're in NYC in this, in particular in the first and fifth photos. Look #1 I *might* see in Boston's Back Bay, near where I reside, but this look - I'd expect that in New York. This series continues the confident and feminine look of the moodboard. In terms of image selection, the third image was a hard selection to make. Often I will skip right over any image that where I can't see the subject's eyes clearly, but in this case, I found myself coming back to this image. I think it highlights the beautiful shade of eyeshadow, and those exceptional cross earrings. Again - major props to styling and makeup.
Look #3
While I had provided a mood board, I didn't know what outfits Valentina would be showing up in (and yes, I could have asked, and she would have gladly sent me photos of them ahead of time, but really, I wasn't someone who should be giving fashion advice). Try to imagine that I was photographing look #2, and then she disappeared for 15 minutes, and the next thing I see is her walking down the street looking completely different, but absolutely on point with the theme of provocative feminine confidence. It was seriously amazing and resulted in some of my most favorite photos from this shoot. Shout out to Wicked Heathens, whose storefront we co-opted for some of these images (https://www.wickedheathens.com/)
Look #4
Valentina switched it up again with the sheer top and red lipstick. People who are good at their craft pay attention to details, like this particular shade of lipstick - more raspberry than red - and the coordination of not only the exterior of the bag with the skirt but the lining of it with the top.
The light was starting to fade then, and while it's not evident in the images below, one could see my focus fading along with my energy in the photos I discarded. For me, this usually shows up as chopping off fashion details (like footwear) or failing to notice things in the background that shouldn't be there (for example, the person that was filming her as she walked down the street towards my camera and away from theirs). And this is absolutely one of the best things about working with legit professionals like Valentina - even when you aren't 100% on your game, they make it look like you are.
