First, to all that've said such mind-bendingly wonderful and kind and greatly appreciated nice things about my pictures, THANKS!
Much MUCH appreciated, as are any and all comments...
Guys ask me, give me some pointers how I can take pictures like you...
Happy to oblige...
1. What one won't do, two surely will.
Uh, what?
Whats'a matta wit-chu? Ya freaking deaf? Got calzone stuck in yer ear 'stead 'a where it usually is, up yer ass?
What one won't do, two surely will...
With Filipinas, you are at the most rock bottom basic of their culture, their lives, their belief system...
One is BAD.
One is SAD.
Alone is HORRIBLE.
See, it's the culture that says the GROUP is more important than the individual - and around here, there's a lot of truth to that, because it indeed DOES take a group working together to survive...this leads to the question of why on the other hand there is so much overt and blatant inter-familial theft and outright thievery, but that is for another time and another topic.
In taking pictures, this means that you get the pretty one with the hot ass to take her picture WITH her ugly friend...this means they are in a mini-group, and are above all SAFE...even with one other, there is strength in numbers.
Now is where the bit of mild flim-flammery comes into play.
You take 1,2,3 pictures of the two of them - that's another thing we'll talk about, keep taking pictures! In this case, the more you take of the 2 of them together, the more comfortable they will be in front of the camera because they will see it is SAFE...never ever forget that many many of these Heartbreakers come from the deep Province and are extremely un-aware...having their picture taken is NOT something they are used to having happen, even WITH cameras in cel phones...
So they are happy and comfortable and you have a bunch of pictures of a pretty girl with her ugly friend...at which point you say the magic word: SOLO?
Wanna hear it again? SOLO.
That's it - after a few snaps, you can gesture with the camera in a questioning way and ask SOLO? SOLO?
I would say that in 99.99% of the time they will be FIGHTING as to who gets to pose alone first.
There is a psychological thing going on at THIS point as well - which one do you shoot first? Sometimes, if the one I really want is particularly hot and KNOWS it and has been a bitch to get in front of the lens, I will shoot the not so pretty one first. This almost always has the affect of making the beauty insanely jealous as she is very used to always going first or getting what she wants because of her looks and it is like a slap of reality for her to have to wait...
And more often than not she will then do a double and triple time job of showing herself off, just thrusting and hipping and lipping whatever to prove she still got it...
On the other side of the coin, at the end of it, I would have to say get the pretty one while you can...even one is better than none, and things change awful fast in a joint, awful, awful fast indeed.
Lastly for today, always SHOW them the pictures - perhaps the first one or two, so they feel comfortable. Then you can shoot a while, and go back and show them again...letting them see how they look will not only assuage most of their natural fear of the unknown, but sometimes well get them to be a bit looser, and a bit more creative - which hopefully will lead to the EMOTION you are searching so hard to capture to finally, at LAST, come through the lens...
Extra Bonus Tip: if you've read this far, you deserve this one. The most important person in your picture taking adventure is the Mamasan. Take her picture! Try hard, she will make believe she doesn't want it, but she does, she does...get her maybe in a group with some of the Heartbreakers...and make damn sure you print HER picture in particular and bring it back soonest!
If Mommy says ok, you are good to go. Is she says no, unless there are multiples, you might as well pack up your expensive equipment and start the sad trudge toward the door...
