It was a Turkish delight

Word of mouth is a great thing when you can get it and a sign you're doing a great job. A couple of weeks ago we got notified that Raziye would like to do a photoshoot with us after hearing about the Bouman Sutcliffe experience from a previous model. Raziye is a colleague of us and works for the same engineering company as we do. Simon didn't know Raziye, but I did. So, after Simon came to me, telling me that we had a new model, we walked to Raziye to introduce her to Simon and have a quick chat. We explained that the most important thing for us was that she was happy with the arrangements concerning the shoot. The date, type of shoot, type of location, etc.etc.
After about a week of planning, the three of us drove to Amersfoort's city centre for the shoot.

Being late autumn and having to shoot on a working day (right after work) there was little time to waste. The time between us arriving and sunset was only a couple of hours. Luckily Simon had everything well planned out, scouting for nice locations in advance, which were quite near to each other. This way we would not lose too much time walking from one location to the next. Our first location was a wall filled with bright graffiti.

Raziye turned about to a great model. Not only being very beautiful, but also not needing much direction. Moving fluently from one pose to the next, not waiting for input from us. Because she initiated the poses, we didn't have to suggest many to her and could concentrate mainly on perfecting the pose she already choose (when needed) and picking the most suitable camera angles. Also, like a real professional, she didn't complain about the cold. On the contrary. Whilst we were wearing our winter coats because of the chilling winds, she suggested that she would take of her jacket because this would make for a better picture. Respect!

As usual, Simon and I took turns taking pictures. Simon with his full frame camera and I with my mirrorless (micro four thirds) camera. Shooting mainly with a Panasonic GX8 and the Olympus 25mm f1.2 and 45mm f1.2. After I took some colour pictures, I took one more to be converted into black and white, before moving to our next location.

Our next location was a public bench at the harbour. Simon began the shoot and had Raziye pose while she was seated. When it was my turn to shoot, I asked our model to climb on the bench so her feet would be on the part you would normally sit on. Don't know if that made the picture better, but at least it obscured most of the trash can right behind the bench, saving me from doing some extra post processing.

After we finished shooting at the bench location, we headed of to our next and final location, crossing the bridge and walking through a residential area towards some stairs. As before it was Simon taking the first shots and me holding the light. When Simon was finished he showed the results to Rasiye, who was very curious about the pictures he took.

Raziye was also very curious about my pictures and also wanted to see mine. I decided to keep her in suspense (I know not very professional) and I told her she would see them once I was finished editing them. Simon assured her that I wouldn't disappoint her and she will be pleased with the results.

I started off taking a couple of pictures of Raziye sitting on the stairs. Letting her take on different poses and varying the location on the stairs slightly. It was getting dark really quickly. Simon asked if I was finished or had any other ideas before we would leave. I had a quick think and came up with the idea of Raziye walking up the stairs looking over her shoulder. To explain to her what I meant I walked up the stair myself and took on the pose I wanted her to make. Raziye understood and made the pose, resulting in one of my favourite pictures of that evening. I like that it doesn't look very posed but more spontaneous, casual, almost caught in a moment. The light perfectly lighting up her face (thanks Simon ;-)).

The shoot was over and Raziye, very satisfied with the experience, went home. Simon and I walked to the hotel Simon is residing in to discuss the evening while enjoying a cold beer. We also had a good time and were pleased with Raziye as our model and we both would love to have her in front of our cameras again. We had a pretty good amount of keepers, despite the short time frame we had to work in. The coming months outdoor shoots aren't on the table, because of the dark winter days. Maybe we get the opportunity to do some indoor sessions. We will see... 

You can find Simon's wonderful pictures here: sutcliffe.photography/blog/portfolios/raziye/