Photography is more than just pictures
By: Bob Hannaford
I love photography. I went to art school out of college, where I learned how to process film and use chemicals to create images on photo paper. It was a really cool experience to see how the entire photography process worked.
I bought some expensive cameras and I learned how to do everything from shutter speeds to aperture sizes to lighting and developing. Little did I know that all of this would quickly be replaced by digital photography and eventually smartphones. Today most phones have better cameras than I ever used while studying art in college.
That said, I have always kept up with the trends, I kept studying and more importantly, observed photography in museums, in books, online, and from other photographers, both professional and amateur.
I learned Photoshop, then dabbled in Lightroom, and eventually downloaded apps for my phone that would help me color correct, lighten, and punch up my photos so they would look more like what I was seeing. Because a camera, no matter how good, can never be as good as our eyes. Eventually, I started manually adjusting my photos, because I couldn’t find exactly the right filters to give me the results I was looking for, even though they sure are a lot faster.
I love taking photos at events, of architecture, at concerts, of people (especially nudes), and especially sunsets. A naked person with a beautiful sunset background might be my favorite.
Recently, while at Desire Resort, we were approached by the people from Provoke Photos. It is a 3rd party service contracted for both Desire Resorts (RM & Pearl) and Temptation. Their pitch is that it is a free photoshoot and you pay for only the photos you want, at $25 a photo. After laying around the pool for a few days, I said, “Why not?”.
My girlfriend had never had a professional photoshoot before and was nervous. “You don’t need to spend money for photos”, she said. “You take beautiful photos, we do not need to spend extra money on me.” I bet a lot of men wish they had a partner that felt this way.
I wanted to see what the experience would be and so I signed us up. They said to be in our room at the appointment time and since it was in a couple of hours, we went back to our room to get cleaned up (a fresh shower, shave and a little makeup for her).
The photographer showed up right on time. He had a portable light stand with a softbox which helps add soft natural light. I was a little skeptical about shooting in our room, I figured we would go to an onsite studio, but the entire shoot took place in our room. From the time he arrived to set up, take photos, wrap up and leave, it was only one hour. That was great because we wanted to get back to laying by the pool, but I thought to myself, how good could these photos really come out.
During that hour, he took time to ask us what we were looking for, what types of photos we wanted and if there were any special requests. I just said, “Help me show her how beautiful she really is… oh, and a couple of butt shots would be nice”.
During that next hour, he posed her in several different outfits. He changed the lighting from backlit, to soft lighting, from the bed, to the sliding door, “How about here on the couch?”, he asked. I am glad that he took charge, he knew how to set up the shot, how to give her advice on how to pose and what angles worked. I spent most of the time on my computer catching up on neglected work (bonus for me), until the end, when he asked me to join in for a few shots.
The time flew by and I was surprised when he said “OK, I think I got what I need and started packing up. He said he could meet us a couple of hours later in his office, so he could edit the photos, color correct them and do some basic retouching. I honestly didn’t expect much, in such a short timeframe, so we headed back to the pool without much thought about the photo shoot and ordered another drink as we sunk into our poolside lounge chairs.
I almost forgot to go to our appointment, but I was reminded by the person who said she didn’t need any photographs taken, I guess she really was anxious to see how they turned out. So off we went to see the results…
The office was right next to Desire Pearl’s Spa and very private. We strolled in casually, not expecting much, but over the next couple of minutes, we understood that this was much more than we had expected, this was more than just a photoshoot.
The first thing he did was show us a slide show (with music) that highlighted the 125 photos that he curated. The look on my girlfriend’s face was priceless. She was glued to the huge monitor as photo after photo popped up, slid across the screen and morphed into another photo.
At one point, she turned to me and said “Is that really me”? in disbelief. “Yes, baby” I said, “that really is you. Don’t you look amazing”? It was an emotional moment that neither of us saw coming.
It was a confidence builder, something that we had done together to capture who we are… both together and on her own. I saw a very clear transformation as she first watched the slideshow and then went through each photo, one by one. She was sitting up straighter, taller, prouder.
At one point she said to me. “That is me” with confidence. The insecure little girl that walked into that room was now replaced by a more confident woman who saw something in those photos she had never seen in herself. She saw what I see everyday, and more...
She saw herself as a sex symbol. As a model. As a stunning work of art that deserved to be appreciated and even worshipped. It was a breakthrough moment for her and it was priceless.
Well, not exactly priceless, it was $25 per photo.
$140 if you wanted the slideshow. I did the math in my head and it was adding up quickly to over $3,000 if I wanted to buy them all. He saw my face and explained that there were packages, discounts and deals if we bundled things together. Bundling? Frank from American Pickers would be proud.
There were packages you could buy that would put these images into a beautiful coffee table book, print images onto canvas, I can’t remember if you could get coffee cups or not, but let’s just say there were many different options.
When the sticker shock wore off, I realized that you were paying more for the experience, and specifically for that transformation, than you were for the photos itself. In the end, I opted to get 10 photos (you will many of them in this blog, some we have decided to keep to ourselves) and another $140 for the slideshow.
Where else can you get a sexy photo shoot done for only $390?
It was literally the best money we spent that week. She made one of the photos, a portrait, her Facebook profile photo. She has received a lot of compliments, likes and comments from that one. Her confidence and self-esteem is still rising even after having returned home.
Every once in a while, I text her one of the photos and I tell her that I have a crush on this woman or that I’m going on a date with this model tonight. This is the gift that will keep on giving, long after the photo shoot is over and we forget about the actual photos.
Sometimes we just need to see ourselves through someone else’s eyes (or in this case lens) to see who we really are. I am thankful that Desire Pearl had this experience for us and the next time, I am going to schedule a shoot in the ocean, and maybe one of the oceanfront beds.
Next time I may combine the two shoots and get a book printed so she can look back on this time, when we are much older and she can say “That was me.”
And I’ll tell her, “It still is”…