Phase 1: Stage fright
I prepare every shoot intensively. From the styling, possible poses, light setups to the timing. Actually, I don't like to leave anything to chance. When shooting, I do a lot of it spontaneously, but good preparation gives me security and the freedom to spontaneously re-act to new situations.
And yet I feel tense inside before every shoot. I feel like a racehorse locked in a box waiting for it to finally start. When a make-up artist then feels like making up the model for hours, I scratch my hooves.
Joking aside. I think stage fright is a good sign. It shows that after so many years I take every shoot really seriously and always want to achieve a good result. I don't just snap around, I always do my best.
Phase 2: Tunnel
During the shoot, I'm in the tunnel. Especially with larger productions, I forget everything around me. I don't check my cell phone and sometimes I even forget to have some water on a regular basis. I love being fully focused and working without distractions. The best results are achieved when the model drops completely and is 100% on the shoot, like me.
Phase 3: Euphoria
When the shoot is over, I'm euphoric at first. I know the good results, I'm soaked in sweat and know that I gave my all. It was an exhausting day. Sore muscles are guaranteed the next morning. And I'm really exhausted. But there is euphoria in my head. I am happy and look forward to the great pictures.
Phase 4: Disillusionment
If I then have the hundreds of photos transferred to the computer and look at them in detail, I always find something that could have been better. I don't mean to say that I am disappointed. But there is definitely a certain disillusion. Maybe also because I photograph each motif around 30 times and thus constantly see images that are very similar. That feels tiring.
Phase 5: Satisfaction
When the final selection is made and the images have been processed and retouched, there is a real boost again. Like a rocket. Then I am absolutely happy. The pictures turned out much better than expected. And I am in an absolutely positive mood. Sometimes I even ask myself how I managed all of this and say to myself that I am a good photographer.
It's weird that my emotions are always on a roller coaster. I don't know exactly why that is either. I'm sure I've exaggerated a little in my description. But basically, that's what every shoot feels like to me.
Thanks a lot to Clementine for helping me illustrating this article. What a wonderful model!