Sam – Punch Card Shoot

Sam – Punch Card Shoot

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I had the pleasure of working with Sam, a Smokin Hot Espresso barista, completing a photo shoot for her punch card design. Up until just recently, I’ve had the opportunity of meeting most of the baristas prior to doing a shoot with them, but the business had just brought a few girls on and I hadn’t covered any events for the business where I had the opportunity to meet the new girls prior to my first shoot with them. Hence this occasion for Sam, her arrival to my studio being our first formal introduction, so you never know how it’s going to go. I like to always meet the girls ahead of time so that they get to know me, to see that I’m down-to-earth, I like to joke around, and I’m not a “creepy guy with a camera” (the photo industry has become so littered with guys who buy cameras just to have an excuse to photograph women in skimpy clothing, that they have an abbreviation for them, CGWC – creepy guy with camera. They are easy to pick out cause their photos are crap, go figure). I am a photo professional, unlike a lot of those jokers out there, and the girls see that upon our first conversation, and it puts them at ease. Most of the girls have never done any professional shoots before, so it can compound the photo anxiety, meeting a person for the first time, while also having to be photographed in… revealing apparel.

The girls always do a great job, and warm-up fairly quickly, even if it is our first meeting. Sam even more so than others, she was jabbering right out of the gate, even though it was her first photo shoot. We hit a surprising amount of in-depth topics during the shoot, she definitely was not afraid to show her solid intellect. I’m quite a nerd, from physics to heavy tech stuff, and I usually keep the geek speak to a minimum, so I was surprised when she kept up the pace and put her two cents in on like interests. And may I note, an odd combination when you are talking techie stuff with a girl who you are photographing in minimal clothing. I have a blast at all my shoots, but when someone wants to geek-out with me during the shoot, that’s super fun.

Sam was a natural, and even if she didn’t know exactly what to do, she took direction like a seasoned model, all while staying very relaxed. It created a fluidity to the shoot that was present until the last frame. I think that this is the most variety to-date that I’ve gotten in with a barista, as far as the amount of different visuals. Though I always shoot some similar themes of all the girls, providing standardization and flexible marketing material for the business, I make each girl’s shoot a little bit different so that it keeps things fresh.

That standardization I speak of is the white seamless. It’s a no-brainer, I always shoot the girls on it, then move to more fun, non-traditonal styles. Enjoy the photos, more to come!