Photographing Model Marie-Jean Saxton at The Boardroom Studio
Further to my two previous blog articles about models Jessica Wilcock and Elle Baldwinson, the third model to feature in this series of work I did in May is Marie-Jean Saxton.
Marie was at The Boardroom Studio in Derby again, as she is a few times a year, where she runs photographer sessions of two hour blocks. For photographers, these work out really well because
- it makes it more affordable than hiring a model for two hours when they are making the trip just for that one session.
- it gives you a chance to work with a model who might not necessarily want to go to the effort of travelling just to shoot with you (sorry - but that is just life - we are not all that good that models will drop everything to work with us!). And
- they are great portfolio builders.
For the models, I assume it makes financial sense for them, and it enables them to meet photographers they may not have worked with before. And for those photographers who share the images afterwards, it gives them something for their portfolios too if they need or want it. That said, it must be a very tiring day for them! I am not sure I'd relish posing for 8 hours with a 2 or 3 hour commute either side of the day. One of the less glamorous realities of modelling life I suspect.
This was my first "studio day" working with a model in this particular way. The previous studio shoots I had done with Jessica and Elle were dedicated sessions where I had paid for the models entire trip, plus the studio hire, plus the film! Yes - those costs soon mount up - I've dropped more than most people pay for a mortgage in May! But having done this shoot with Marie, I will certainly consider them again in future.
Anyway, so I got the last session of the day which worked well for me and my own commitments but I was alive to the fact Marie still had to get back to her home town of Leeds. So I did not dilly dally.
We had a lot of fun together. She is a very charismatic lady as well as super professional and good at what she does. She has been modelling for some years I gather so she knows what to do and she was not phased in the least by my use of film which is always a worry in this day and age when everyone is used to 10 frames a second!
I captured some really artistic shots of her that worked really well for my purposes as a creative. The Kodak Tri-X was developed in a way that gives the photographs some really solid black action - high contrast work. For Marie, she has quite a powerful "corporate CEO" look about her. So I didn't really want to make the pictures all bright and airy, necessarily. More powerful and dark. So, just like the shots of Jessica Wilcock, I used a slightly warmer development mixture, agitated the tank a little more, and developed the film for about 9.5 minutes, instead of 8. I was really happy with the results and have used a few of the images on my homepage. Below is a wider selection.
I really enjoyed working with Marie and I very much appreciated her giving me the chance to photograph her. I hope I will see her again one day.
