A vampire shoot can go two ways, awesome or cheesy.

This shoot has made me think that I need to have a chat about stylist shoots and what's going on in them.

A few people have asked, what's it about?, why?, why is she doing this?, what happens to the images? and lot's of other things to be honest.

I always answer these in person, but still understand that people sometimes don't really get it and may think it's a little odd.

I can answer all the questions both for me and a few of my model friends I think.

This type of shoot is about creativity. Here the young lady has made the costume, done her makeup and props. Sometimes this process is joint, lot's of discussion over style, colours, props etc. Sometimes not so much and then it's called "winging it".

I'm still learning photography so a stylist shoot is no pressure, no money changes hands and it's a case of.. let's see what we can get. I learn lot's about lighting on a stylist shoot, which then comes in handy when I shoot bands and portraits. 

I also learn about communication with a model, how to make them feel comfortable.. and how to make me feel comfortable. Normally this leads to lot's of laughs. I think I'm improving in getting a model to pose, which has been a huge weakness from the start.

So.. you can see for me, it's creative, practice and fun.

For the model, creative and fun.. but for this young lady.. a bit more. She's using these shoots to open the door to art college, her makeup and prop skills are going to be put to the test this year as she embarks on a Product Design Degree at Hartlepool  College of Arts. Students from here have gone on to work in TV and the film industry.. so I wish her all the luck.

So I know people won't "get" all of my images and that's ok.. I'll keep on being creative and having fun.. and if it helps someone along the way that's a great bonus don't you think?