With Love and Creativity: The Art of Collaboration (feat. Images by Madison Oren)

8/21/2018

With Love & Creativity: The Art of Collaboration

As a model, it's a very rare opportunity when I'm able to experiment with shoots. I'm usually booked for commercial/e-commerce work, but going back to my roots of experimental/conceptual is always fun.
With this set, Madison can into Chicago to shoot with props in hand. In under an hour, we came out with amazing images.
Collaboration can often be hard but here are a few tips to make collaborating a smooth and seamless process:

Sample images are a good start-- Copying a shoot/concept is never good, but taking inspiration from other creatives and the world around you is! By providing sample images of the style you're looking for, you can easily determine if this shoot is right for you. Does the look fit what you need/want in your book? Is this a look something you can achieve or unrealistic?

Communication is key!-- I think I've said this a million times on my blog and in articles I've written, but I can't stress it enough: USE YOUR WORDS! If you want something, both as the person asking to collaborate and the person receiving the invitation to collaborate, you need to communicate what you want and need to make this shoot a success. Don't go silent the night before. Don't ignore emails that are asking vital questions for your shoot. Take the time and lay everything out for all parties.

On set attitude-- On non-paying sets you still have to bring the same amount of enthusiasm as with paid bookings. Why? Because these shoots can lead to paid bookings. The attitude you bring onto the set will also change how the images come out. When everyone has a great and positive attitude on set, your images will naturally turn out better. Collaboration means everyone is involved in one way or another. Your attitude can bring down the whole crew, so if you have a bad attitude, what's the point? Enjoy the process, meeting new people and gaining experience.