The Day After

Michelle(left) and Sam(right) are finalist
in the Swimsuit Contest. They are also
Hooters of Cumberland girls. Congrats!

So, its a wrap. The Hooters shoot is in the books and I came out of the whole thing wiser and humbled. I felt very confident all the way up the time the girls hit the runway. I was coming off the high of a contact  for advertisement the day before. Some good pics from that previous day, as well. The first of the shoot was rough with a lot of frustration. At the half, I mingled with some photographers and regained my confidence. The second half went better and the top pictures ended up coming from that batch. In the end, I was glad I did it and can now move on to further my portrait skills in a more controlled environment.

I had got to Hooters around 2 PM and started working on the previous day's pictures. And I thought I would be able to do some "before" picture of them setting up and the girls hanging out. By the time I got here the tent was up, the inflatables were inflating, and the restaurant was already swinging into gear for the night's festivities. So I had a lot of down time. I mean a lot. But the awesome girls kept me company and I sailed thru until 7 went they started the tent seating.

With my credentials purchased and my drink tickets in hand I began doing some test shots. Snagged a few pictures of the girls working out side and a few "product placement" shots. And then... more waiting!! Finally, around 8:30 PM South Side Steve came out onto the runway and MC'd the night away. The First Round--the contestants wore public service outfits. 30 contestants in total and it took them a while to get to all of them. And in that time I think I had everybody and their brother hug/touch/block my camera. On top of that, the nerves had set in and I was desperately spinning my flash around to get the right bounce back. That's when I also noticed the settings on my flash were running at full, which meant I had to wait ~5 seconds between shots for the flash to recharge. I was not a happy camper. The crowd and an uncooperative flash made for a bad start for an important shoot.

It was the Second Round that was definitely my best stuff. I had met 2 photographers at the intermission that gave me some confidence and a new area to shoot from. That spot was the best! My white balance ended up being a little off but I didn't care. I'd fix that in post production. I was having a good time in my new corner. One of the photographers kept me company and we kept trading the back of the cameras in between flash recharges. This part went smooth. I had fun changing lens. Felt confident that the settings I had dialed in would last me for the shoot and I could concentrate on composition and even the contest itself. 7 contestants in total were from the location I frequent. As well, it was also the same location that the contest was held. So we were all cheering for our girls rocking it.

In the end, I got some good shots. The girls like them and I feel like I came out of it okay. The finalist even had 2 of the Cumberland girls! So congrats to Sam and Michelle. As for me, I really hope this opens up more portrait opportunities and we'll see what comes of the photographer from L.A.!

Thanks for tuning in,
   Two Fish

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