Event: BWP UK Members Studio Day
Venue: Projext Liquid Studios
Date: 11th June 2022

Talent on the day
Models: Kanoki, Cheray, Pat & Sindy
Make-up: rbeautè by Riana

Photographer’s Rollcall
Wasi
Tobi
Suzannah
Onyinye
Naomi
Mercy
Lize
Kayden
Ana
Elsie

---

This event was long overdue and I was glad when it finally happened. Tobi did an amazing job of getting everything organised from the studio, models, make- up, etc. And before you knew it, the day came and ended just like that. No one would have thought it took a couple of months to organise everything, but in the end it worked out perfectly.

There was snacks, music and good vibes in the studio. The whole session was just fun that we didn’t even notice 5+ hours just fly by.

It was an opportunity for all of us to get to know and learn from each other. For some, this was their first time in a studio environment and for others, like myself, it was an opportunity to get back to photographing in such an environment.

Photo of BWP UK Members by Kanoki

This was the planned schedule of the day:

11am: Arrival /Headshots
12pm: Photo Session & Studio challenge 
2pm: Lunch
3pm: Photo Session & Outdoor challenge 
4:30pm: Pack-up
5pm: Finish

Having a plan helped co-ordinate the sessions much better even though we slightly deviated from it 😆 . I enjoyed running the session with Tobi as we split up the photographers and models so that it would give everyone an opportunity to photograph and be photographed.

First there was an opportunity for the photographers to have their portraits taken and Lize Okoh took mine. Here are the results:

I can be really awkward in front of the camera when being photographed, but Lize did an amazing job with these photos. Thank you! 😍🙏🏾

When it came to the photo challenges, the studio with lighting and outside the studio with natural light were the options. One group would photograph indoors and the other would photograph outdoors and then swap. In the first session, the challenges were timed and this was an idea I saw Jessica Kobeissi do during her photo sessions with models and other photographers.

I did get a chance to do the challenge, but I was more focused on timing the other photographers and coordinating their sessions with the models. I will share the images I managed to take of Sindy from the timed challenged in next week’s blog post. Subscribe here so you are notified when the post goes live.

During the other photo sessions, it was a much more relaxed atmosphere where you got to choose between a cloth or paper background or if you wanted strobe or continuous lighting. Or even go outside and use the natural light. These options gave each of us an opportunity to experiment, make mistakes and learn.

When I wasn’t busy coordinating or filming BTS of the event, I photographed and took a long time to edit my selections.

Side note: Earlier in the year, Black Women Photographers organised colour grading sessions and they were revisited. I used some of the tips shared when it come to editing my own work. Something I have never done (at this scale) before. As much as I found the process stressful, it was really fun as I got to learn a new skill that I will definitely be using more of in my portraiture work.  

Here are some of my favourites from the day. Enjoy! 😉

And that’s a wrap!

---

Before I go, please follow Black Women Photographers on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and wish them Happy Anniversary 🎉🥳💐 as the community created by Polly Irungu on her birthday 🎂 turns TWO this week/year.

---

If you have reached here, thank you for reading my blog post.

Drinking loads of tea/coffee make it happen and your support is always welcome.