There Has Been an Accident
There has been a life-altering accident and the model is in state of shock, but rest assured that the help is on its way! The situation now seems to have stabilized and her wardrobe appears to be safe. Let’s look and see what’s going in here.
There are many ways to tell a story. One of the best ways is to use images, pictures, or even a collection of photos – which in Hollywood is known as a storyboard – to get a message across to its viewers and filmmakers. In photojournalism, they call it a photo essay. In the publishing world, this is called editorial photography, but it’s basically the same thing. In glamour photography, using editorial photography is not as popular due to photographers often submitting only one image of a model wearing lingerie, bikini or nude, without realizing that editors and magazines love pictorials that have a meaning or story behind it.
They say that one picture speaks a thousand words, which is true, and the messages among them vary. Some pictures offer stronger messages than others and some just ooze sexuality. However, if you really want to get to an editor’s heart, submit a pictorial with a story instead of just a pretty image. Now when you combine both images and a story, you may just become your editor’s new best friend.
Fasten your seatbelts and let me break it down and explain some more. Let’s say you shoot a beautiful image of your model in lingerie. What does the image contain that captures the viewer?
• Beautiful model
• Sexy lingerie
• Great location
• Sensual mood
This formula has been used over and over and it just works. Most of us like it because it offers sex appeal and you can’t go wrong with hot girls on glossy pages.
Now, let’s look at the magazines and evaluate them. What do we really see? We see advertisements and picture stories with a concept and a story behind them. These are often overlooked by photographers when they shoot images. Photographers should consider creating a selection of images that tell a story. Why? Because editors and magazines need them to survive and they cannot just print pretty images, they need variety and lots of it. Go to your local newsstand and pick any well-known magazine and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Picture stories may contain anywhere from three up to ten images. It depends on the strength of your pictorial or how well the story actually carries itself. I remember editors printing some of my picture stories that have contained up to twelve images. This means that they love what they see.
The picture story here that I’m showing you was shot some years ago and it contained several combined elements that created different moods in a viewer. The opening picture (a single image) already told a story of what has happening and it had a powerful message for the viewer. This is what I call a high-impact image or pictorial that offers:
• Drama
• Shock factor
• Safety concern
• Beauty
• Sorrow
• Sensuality
• Sexuality
• Geek factor
Now, all of the sudden we have a pictorial that moves different tastes and creates interest, conversation and controversy. Some people may find this pictorial offensive because it simulates loss, while some may find it brilliant. However, the main goal has been reached. The pictorial is different and did not go unnoticed. Discussions and opinions are now flying (minus the plane) in this story. This is exactly what magazines and most of the media outlets want. They want pictorials that captivate viewers. This equals more sales, more money, and more photography assignments for you.
Just imagine how editors and magazines are bombarded with the same old girlie pictures that you cannot tell one from another. Sometimes you need to have something different to be noticed instead of eating that same old Weinerschnitzel every day.
So why don’t we take a spin on the wild side and create something different, which also is the secret to my long-lasting photography career. The world is full of wonderful ideas just waiting for you to come and pick them up.
Total cost of the shoot:
1. Driving to location 200 miles – gas $100.00
2. Lunch and dinner for the crew $150.00
3. One night hotel – 2 rooms $250.00
4. Model $500.00
5. Misc $100.00
6. A huge thank you for the crew / hair & makeup.
Total: $1000.00 (Priceless)
Jarmo Pohjaniemi
Did the $1000 cost include the use of the plane as a prop?
Where was the plane located?
Yes the $1000 was the total cost of the shoot plane included. Unfortunately we cannot disclose the location of the plane due to restrictions on international airports.