Spin the Wheel. Take a Gamble.
I'd worked on photo shoots for years, for a decade. Many years of watching photographers work, leads to opinions. I had opinions.
I had opinions about how to take the shot. When to hit the shutter. How to create the moment to hit the shutter. Where it should happen. Where the light should be...
How could I not? After so many years of watching it happen, of being a part of the crew, of playing around with my own photos, my own view was itching to come out.
Well, you know what they say about opinions. And opinions from someone who isn't in the hot seat don't mean a damn thing.
But I knew had something to say. That something was in working with children. After years in beauty and fashion, I wanted nothing that involved makeup, fancy clothing or perfection.
So, I took my camera, I planned a photo test with a particular look in mind. This was it. If it worked, if it showed potential, I’d move forward with it.
I went to The Gap, and I bought a few items. Some wardrobe to have, just in case.
I went home to my father’s and asked a cousin about photographing her son. They'd just gone to a “campesino” themed party and had a cowboy hat from the event. The hat worked perfectly for the rural area. The dirty and dusty jeans in the wash pile were perfect too.
“No, no need for a clean pair.” I said.
My cousin's eyes said, “Who dresses a child in dirty clothes for pictures?” I was too new at being in charge to explain. Getting a creative idea into words is much harder than getting it into a visual. One of the hardest parts of creating is being able to verbalize it to others involved.
Everyone was so helpful, helping me find various accessories, humoring me with the dirty jeans.
Passing strangers on a horse generously offered to add their horse to the shoot; the beauty of small rural towns is more than what is visible to the eye.
And that was it. All on red and spin. Were the pictures in my camera any good? Did they show any promise? Could I take concept to creation on my own? Was it worth going all in? To try and sell my vision as the person in charge of the camera instead of a supporting crew member? If presented with the raw materials, could I create what needed to be created? On the drive home I thought, if the pictures in the camera held promise, I was all in. 100% in. No turning back.
Turrúcares, Costa Rica January 2009
Note: Three years later, a photo from this test was purchased by a nation magazine for a cover.