Day 46

Today is Kristin's photoshoot. She is having her friend Stephanie take them. I've seen her portfolio a year ago and I wasn't particularly impressed, unfortunately. She graduated from Bridgewater studying Photography. I do have hope though, because a year is a good time frame for someone to improve exponentially (I cite rowing and skating). Kristin is taking a shoot because she needs shots for modeling. I found an ad the other day for a position that did not require much experience, and it called for a front, back and profile shot.

Throughout the week my mom and her boyfriend said a dozen things that should happen at the shoot. Athletic clothes, since they're looking for an athletic model... jeans and a tank top... flip-flops.. sneakers... heels, but not too tall since she already has some height. It was also discussed between mom's boyfriend and me about the importance of the photographer's ability to share/have the vision of the shoot: to take good (well, duh) photos of Kristin that show off her body well (double duh); including posing and background. Photography is an angles game. It should be the first thing you notice about photographing and photography. Stephanie's portfolio is a bit "meh" in that department. A lot of very straight-ahead, level shots. I wonder though, if her portfolio is strictly school assignments.

I don't really show too much interest in that stuff. I remember in high school the kids that were applying to art schools, a lot of them had... the. same. portfolios. WHY? Because they were all art class assignments. Everybody had the same study in still life (pencil sketches of a sphere, a cube, and one of those posing figurines), three drafts of the same thing, one in pencil, two in colour pencil. They were ALL THE SAME! Nobody really had pieces they did outside of class. And you want to go to ART SCHOOL? Sorry kid, maybe try different mediums. A large pencil drawing on drafting paper and a small pencil drawing on heavier paper... IS STILL A PENCIL DRAWING ON PAPER! Ever heard of oil on canvas? Pastels? WATER COLORS? If I was reviewing portfolios at an art school and all I saw were pencil and marker pieces, I'd just more onto the next person. This person isn't versatile enough. Stick to your bad persepective and even worse shading skills. Ever heard of "one fluid line", not "80 small lines resulting in an awfully awkward (and usually fuzzy) curve"? Sorry for the rant.

Kristin told me later that her shoot took 2 to 3, and it was Stephanie's longest shoot yet. Facepalm. How long are her usual shoots? And also she's never taken pictures of someone who WANTS to have their picture taken? UHHHH.... okay at least she's exercising her first amendment rights... I think. I told Kristin to have Stephanie send me all the raws. 3 hours must mean a lot of shots. And there must be SOME good ones in there. Right? RIGHT?

On Craigslist today I found a Modell's ad. Modell's is a sporting goods store (not my fave... they always have a sickly ambiance and they never seem to have any floor staff...) Apparently they're opening a new location in midtown and is having open interviews in Brooklyn. Interviews are open till 4PM weekdays and its 2:30, enough to shower, get ready and get there. As I'm printing the application... I realize that my suit is at the cleaners! And my interview shoes (remember the blisters?) are packed away SOMEWHERE. So I make an urgent call to my mom. SHE DOESN'T PICK UP! OH NOOO! She calls back 15 min later and doesn't know where my shoes are. Awwww mannnnn.

Turns out she was having some lengthy interview process with corporate at Alice + Olivia. Pretty cool. Mom says she'll help me put together an interview outfit when she comes home. I ended up brewing 2 pots of gunpowder green between the time I realized I couldn't go to the interviews and dinnertime.

I packed for the weekend trip to the Cape and set aside my clothes for tomorrow's practice. I drank a cup of Celestial Seasoning's Vanilla Honey Chamomile with some extra honey to help me go to bed. Long day tomorrow!

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