After getting myself ready for the day, I ate some leftover lasagna for 'breakfast' as I would be needing a lot of energy today. I was going to my first photo shoot in France! I met some photographers online and they invited me to a group shoot. They have these events every once in awhile where a bunch of models and photographers of all levels get together and build their portfolios. Most of the events are unpaid unless the photographer is able to sell your picture. The money aspect isn't a big deal to me right now. I get to work on my worn out skills, get new pretty pictures, and meet new people! Oh, and practicing my french is another plus!
I am working at a paid shoot in December for a calendar. Hopefully it'll be tasteful. Looking at most portfolios of french photographers, their taste is very unlike mine. I'm more into classy and glamorous shots while most of them post slutty/skanky pictures in their portfolios. I didn't expect that in this country, especially with how modest most french women seem to be. But I guess as one photographer explained to me, people enjoy seeing the taboo here but not living it.
I picked Kami up around noon for moral support and we headed out of town. We ended up not finding our exit, driving 30 km extra, and doing a huge loop. Though a bit stressed that I was using up so much gas, I still had a great time cruising around the south of France with Kami. We saw such beautiful scenery and heard a lot of good music on the radio. "Summer Jam" by R.I.O. kept coming on and we jammed to it every single time. It is now our song and will forever link us. I will surely think of Kami and that car drive every time I hear it. After about an hour of being lost and taking random routes that we saw listed on MapQuest we made it to our destination, COMPLETELY by accident!
We were greeted by Brian, a model I had met previously and Caty, the director/event planner. They immediately grabbed us to get on location for some shots. I first worked with a photographer named Patrice. Out of all of the photographers, his taste best suits my style. He didn't ask for anything too provocative and he took more close-up shots--glamour, if you will. We ended that session with another photographer, Ludovic. He's on the opposite end of the pole for me. The main picture on his profile page is of a girl wearing a revealing top--with the focus being on her shiny cleavage if that helps paint you a picture.
We all headed to a car garage afterward for some auto-themed photos. Here, I worked with Steph. His style was a bit more rebellious than Patrice's, but more tame than Ludovic's. He took a lot of good shots of me. I spent 80% of the shoot with this photographer. He had some interesting ideas but Kami ended up taking over the directing aspect. She's an extremely creative person and can see things from many different perspectives. He liked her ideas so much that she ended up directing me the rest of the shoot.
I ended up posing with Brian in a limo with Steph as the prime photographer. He needed more elements so he coerced Kami into sitting for a few pictures. She hates being on the other side of the camera but she is so beautiful. I don't understand why!
All of the photographers showed me their favorite pictures of me from each session. Though they were decent and the photographers did a great job with lighting and such. I must say, I am really out of practice. My visage is so stern and cold. I really need to work on relaxing my face and expanding my facial expressions. I don't know if I've always been this bad or if I was just too nervous being around a hoard of strangers that were staring at me--probably a combination of both. Whatever reason it is, I want to do better.
After about two hours of posing, using a lot of broken french, learning new french words, and making new friends, Kami and I were ready to go. We found our own way back to Aix without MapQuest and made it home in 20 minutes!!! Next time I'll just use information off of the side of the road. It's better to know how to get somewhere without road by road navigation anyhow. It hones your innate GPS skills!!!
Now that I'm back in Aix, I'm out out my fantasy world. Back to folding laundry and ironing for me! Though I love my host family very much, I am so happy I got a chance to break away from a normal au pair day for once!
Photo from the shoot by Steph
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