How to turn your bathtub into a studio...

One of the things I love about working with  Andrew Kufahl (Flickr) is that he can create fantastic artistic photos anywhere, in any lighting. Another awesome thing about Andrew is he has been interested in what goes on with the model's side of things. Both of these things came together in this shoot...

Once I had met Andrew and started working with him more, we had discussions on the importance of wardrobe/styling, hair, makeup, and how that effects a photo. On a smaller scale, we just talked about what makeup can do to a face. This is something he had already started looking into and studying a bit. Well now he had someone to practice on! So one day, we decided to have Andrew apply my makeup. We looked through pictures and books, studying how certain looks were achieved. There is a lot of art that goes into this, and with us both having some sort of art background, it was easy to dissect in that way. Andrew let me know what he wanted our look to end up like, and I gave tips on how to get that look. Because he isn't one for taking the easy route, he also decided he wanted to do all of this with color-another element to worry about!

The first eye took quite some time. There is a lot to get used to when applying makeup to someone else, and it is even more difficult for a guy to do so since he does not have the experience of having applied makeup to himself on a daily basis-or ever! He has not idea what it feels like. So Andrew of course started off quite timid, as he didn't want to cause any pain. We had to do several coats to get the values we needed for the look, and he got more and more comfortable with the feel of things. Eventually, one eye was done! It looked great. He got the shape he wanted, he got the colors he wanted, awesome. I think he almost forgot about the second eye, and he was not as excited about this one! The biggest obstacle with this part was to match the two eyes. He was surprised at how difficult that was-and with so many elements to think about, it make it even more difficult. But we got there!

We also chatted about the other types of makeup, I showed him some of my tricks to achieve certain looks -like with blush/cheeks- and let him do the other side. With my face complete, I did some quick styling with my hair. We were ready to shoot! But now what? We didn't think that far... 

We started shooting in my bathroom, where we had been doing hair/makeup. And we stayed in my bathroom-more specifically, we shot in the bathtub. Afterwards, we had to laugh because our previous model shoot (which was our first) was done in my downstairs bathroom! Looking at both these shoots, I find it hard to believe that we used bathrooms for our studio. The space is very  cramped, it isn't the best lighting, it isn't even the best backdrop! But some how Andrew was able to get some killer shots that were quite artistic and filled with emotion. It doesn't matter what you have to work with, if you have an artistic eye and a good understanding of art and photography, there are no limits.

To see more from this shoot: www.facebook.com/NFGartist and look for my "Modeling 2" album.