Stand right in the puddle. There’s great light there.
The Original Plan
For my 25th birthday, Ang and Morten arranged for me to have my photos taken by a professional photographer. We had a couple of meetings beforehand to discuss “the look” I was going for, what types of photos I liked and disliked, location etc. and I was totally psyched about the upcoming shoot.
The day finally came, and… it was pretty much a disaster. Ang, Morten and I were late, the makeup artist was even later, she made me look like a friggin’ clown with mismatched eyebrows and skin like sandpaper to boot, the makeup took much longer than expected which meant that we had little time before the sun went down since our appointment was in the late afternoon, which also meant that we didn’t have the time to get to the location we had planned on using, both the photographer and I were low on energy by this point, and in the end all of this was reflected in the photos. 
This was technically one of the photographer’s first photoshoots since he’s normally an event photographer (and a great one at that) so I don’t want to make it sound like he’s a bad photographer or anything like that. It was just one of those learning experiences.
Photoshoot with Phil
My current Gravatar
After several days of not knowing what to do with the photos, Phil asked if I’d want to spend an afternoon taking photos in Richmond. He isn’t a professional photographer, but Phil likes to dabble in the art as a hobby and owns a spiffy Canon. We first met at last year’s 12x12 Vancouver Photo Marathon where his interpretation of the ‘panhandle’ theme won the prize for ‘Best Aesthetic’.
Ang and I met up with Phil in Richmond and the first location we went to was a half-empty parking lot where a corner of it had “great natural lighting”. I don’t know how he found it, but he was right. It did have great natural light! This time, I did my own makeup and followed Phil’s recommendations to eat a decent breakfast so that I’d have more energy. We also met earlier in the day so we didn’t feel any time-constraints.
Within a half-hour as boasted, Phil took some great shots (one of which is currently my Gravatar, Twitter profile pic, and Flickr icon). The rest of the afternoon was spent taking fun photos on one of those grassy highway dividers, and a short path in a small park. They were really random locations that don’t look like they’d be ideal shoot locations but they all worked so well. I had a great time and have included some of my favourite photos from all the locations in the gallery below.
Thank you Phil! 
Tips for Aspiring Photographers & Photo Subjects
- Eat something before you head out on a shoot (this goes for both subjects and photographers because if one is tired, the other will feel it too).
- I know photographers work in different ways, but I found that with a snap-happy photographer I ended up with lots more usable photos because expressions change in fractions of a second. One photo would turn out only “okay”, while the next one that only had the slightest difference was perfect.
- Meet an hour earlier than the time you’d like to start shooting. It’s better to finish earlier, than not have enough time to get a decent shot.
- (Photo Subject) If you’re Asian, get an Asian makeup artist. It’s difficult to find a non-Asian makeup artist who doesn’t overdo the eye makeup.
- (Photo Subject) All makeup artists should know this already, but not all do: when you’re getting your makeup done, make sure you’re sitting in an area with equal lighting on both sides of the face so you don’t end up with one eyebrow a good 0.5 cm longer and darker than the other.
- (Photo Subject) If you’re doing your own makeup, apply a bit more colour than you normally do so that you don’t look like a ghost if the light ends up being a little harsh.
- (Photo Subject) Avoid synthetic fabrics. They reflect light and have a tendency to either overshadow your face, or appear to have a strange rippling effect. Cotton works best.
- (Photo Subject) Avoid wearing solid black / dark tops because they also tend to draw attention away from your face and towards your chest.
- (Photo Subject) Although most of us have a “preferred side”, take photos from both sides to get a broader range of looks.
- Always have a comb and a bottle of water handy. I forgot the comb and kept using water to keep my hair in place.
Some Photos from the Photoshoot with Phil
Unedited photos
