Sunday, August 29, 2010

Dawn Williams, Pianist - Chapel Hill Portrait Photographer Corey Williams

One of the things I love most about being a photographer is that I'm always doing something different. Today was a case in point.

My kid's terrific piano teacher, Dawn Williams, asked me to take some photos of her for an upcoming demo CD and her website. One thing led to another, and we had Jami Svvay involved, a terrific makeup artist and hairstylist involved in the project. Jami brought along Effie, our stylist, and suddenly, we're in business. The day went something like this.

Jami and Effie left Charlotte this morning at 3am. By 6:00am, Dawn was getting into hair and makeup. Shortly after, I rolled out of bed and put on my shooting pants (more on this in a later blog post). And headed for Dawn's house.

There she was, in fresh makeup, jeans and a sparkly tank and of course, I just want her to lay down in a ravine (read - ditch) and look (ahem) comfy. From there, we were shooting in neighbor's yards, an empty field next to a church (on a Sunday morning), in downtown Durham (with an audience of homeless guys), in the street and (wait for it) IN the Eno River. 9 CF cards, 44 gigs later, 8 and a half hours, and one pair of very wet shooting pants later, I was home. Exhausted, but very, very happy. I have LOTS of editing in front of me, but I can't believe how much fun I had.

So, here's a great big thank you to all the people that made today possible. Dawn's terrific friend Emily, who held the reflector in all kinds of uncomfortable positions, her husband who guarded the camera bag and laughed at us when we were sitting in the river. Jami, who banged some hair and makeup. Effie, who brought amazing clothes and boots that I'm still thinking about. And of course Dawn, who not only had the confidence to hire me - but the confidence in me to roll around in ravines, change clothes in a sheet in downtown Durham, and even lay on her belly in a river just because I told her it would look good on camera. Who could ask for a better model?

Here's a sneak peek of some of the things we did.





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