Waikato

These two images were taken in 2010. It was my very first shoot using off camera lighting, and I was photographing a model named Shana who I had found online and was also just starting out and building her portfolio. I had been watching some tutorials online about how to use off camera flash, and since I was just wanting to try it out, I decided not to buy any new gear and just hire a location lighting kit from Wintec.

We met up in town that night and just walked around to a few locations I had picked out earlier in the day and even though I didn’t really know what I was doing, and most of it was just trial and error (probably more error than trial!) I look back so fondly on this shoot and some of these images are still my favourites.

If you’re wanting to try something out, you can find alternatives to all the easiest ways of doing things if you just use your imagination a little bit. If you need to learn something new, the internet is full of information. If you need some assistance, there are always people out there who are also starting out and are willing to give you their time. If you don’t have the money to buy the equipment you need, you can always borrow it.

If I hadn’t pushed myself to work through my doubt and organise the shoot in spite of not feeling like I knew what I was doing, who knows how long it would have taken me to get to the point where I could shoot the Banksy project. If you want to do something, just get on with it.