Ice cream shoot

I was particularly looking forward to this shoot because it had an exciting concept and I was really enjoying working with food. I was apprehensive about the actual ice cream itself because of how it was created and I thought it might not stay frozen properly. By choosing to do the photography myself I knew there would be extra pressure on myself because of doing the make-up and hair as well. This shoot especially was going to require my creative direction in order to make the images look vibrant and exciting.

• I enjoyed doing the make-up because I was working with a really lovely model who put me at ease with her chatty nature.
• I wasn't overly worried about giving her direction as she models professionally so I showed my inspirational images so she could get an understanding of the vibe for the shoot.
• That day there was a very long queue for the photography hatch, so I ended up waiting for a camera for about 20 minutes while my model sat waiting for me. 
• I didn't have the foundation to match her skin colour so I had to borrow some from Lottie but the search for her took a little longer than expected.
• At this point I already felt like I was beginning to become more panicky because I felt like I had kept my model waiting for too long.
• When the shoot began I immediately knew that I was going to have to rush because the ice cream was melting at a more rapid pace than I had anticipated. Where I had mixed the vanilla ice cream with water and aqua palette the consistency of the ice cream was more icey than it was cream. So as it became warm it turned very mushy.
• My focus was then completely on the ice cream because it was melting so fast and my model had it all over her face and she couldn't open it because the ice cream wasn't edible. This then meant that my focus on the photography was lost and it seemed to be more about getting the shoot done quickly so that my model was comfortable.

I think I am learning that photoshoots really aren't my strongest skill and I think because I know that it makes me more nervous each time I do one. I think it's worse when I know the model has worked with my peers because I am constantly worrying what they think about me and my concept. Which then leads to a vicious cycle because I mess up due to being nervous and then that makes me look sloppy and frantic. I felt so let down by this shoot because I was really looking forward to it. I feel that a lot of the negatives with this shoot were down to me being unprepared. I didn't test the ice cream, I didn't pack my kit properly and I should have got a camera earlier. I think this project is revealing a lot about myself and my attitude towards my photoshoots. I know that I definitely need to be more prepared. 

The quality of the images are lost because I wasn't able to get the lighting right on my shoot and because I opted to do the photography myself I didn't have the option of correcting the lighting on shoot because I didn't know how. I feel like this shoot had the potential to be very visually dynamic but wasn't because of my lack of preparation.