Milly

On my Instagram, I have a pinned post that says, in short, if you want me to photograph you (or again), reach out and tell me when and where you'll be and I'll reply with whether I can be there. With that presented in the form of a mock Instagram conversation. And last week, Milly tried to take advantage of that, wanting photos of her and a friend on a Friday night out, but it couldn't work.

Tonight she reached out again, saying she was going to be downtown. I knew what she wanted.

She wants to be a model. She was hesitant before about being photographed by others. Then she saw what I could do when I found her downtown. So I decided to give her a little... tough love, so to speak, during our post-shoot debrief.

Obvious during the shoot that she is... timid and quiet. Somewhat stiff. Very reserved. That became extremely apparent when I had her laying on a bench, how she was implicitly objecting to my direction to be propped up on her elbows. I wonder in hindsight how things would've gone if she didn't come alone.

But there are no steps toward self confidence. Only shoves. Ask me how I know. Though she already gave herself the first big shove by even reaching out and agreeing to do this. I left her with advice on how to move forward, so there will probably be periodic check-ins down the line.

Much of the shoot reminded me of Nadia's impromptu shoot walking around the City Market. Though Nadia actually had experience in front of the camera, but seemingly little skill to self-direct.