Networking the Key to Success!

Last Weds. I had the pleasure of doing a creative w/ photographer Bryan Lockyer. I've never met or worked w/ him before so it was great to get an email out of the blue asking to work w/ me. Basically, his scheduled MUA had to cancel and he was looking for another MUA to replace her. He asked his friend Mackenzie James if he knew anyone and he suggested me.

What's crazy about this is I've actually never worked w/ Mackenzie or Bryan. Basically, when I got back from Shanghai I contacted a bunch of photographers I admired and asked for a meeting. Mackenzie was on of the photographers that got back to me and we really hit it off during the time I showed my book to him. He told Bryan my work was great and I had an amazing personality so that's why Bryan contacted me. It's important to remember those first impressions really are EVERYTHING sometimes and it's not even just about how good your work is a lot of times it also has to do w/ your personality and if the other person thinks you'll mesh well w/ their team.

So I was the first to arrive on set on Weds...this tends to happen to me a lot b/c of my perpetual need to ALWAYS be early lol. I swear if I'm going to be 2 mins late I'm calling the photographer to let them know lol! Bryan and I definitely had a long time to get to know each other b/c both the stylist and model were running late. The model was actually from London, ON so I can totally understand how this happened. I was just really happy to get to work w/ her as she usually only travels to Toronto for paid work. She's w/ NEXT Canada and her name is Virginia and she has a great look.

Because of Shanghai I don't really have many blond models so I was really excited to work w/ her b/c it fills a hole in my book. Whenever you accept a creative or any work that isn't paid it's important to remember what that shoot is going to do for you and how does it help your portfolio. No use doing a creative if you've already done that concept 3 times or you have multiple models in your book that have similar looks to the one being offered.

Once the stylist and model arrived we finally were able to get things started! The styling was exactly what I was expecting but what can you do sometimes that happens. Overall, I'm really happy w/ what I did as far as makeup and hair goes and I think the team was too. The look I did focused on a really dramatic purple and black winged eye w/ very sculpted cheekbones and a nude glossy lip...very 80's and very cool IMO! Hopefully, I'll get at least a few cool pics from the shoot to make it worth my while even though the styling was exactly what I was expecting. I saw some of the pics that Bryan took and they looked really great just off the camera so I can't wait to see how they look once they've been retouched. I definitely hope to work w/ Bryan again on some other shoots.

I think this could be an exciting time for me b/c I feel like all the groundwork I've been laying these past few mths is finally starting to fall into place. Photographers I met are starting to contact me, photographers I've worked w/ are passing my name on to other ppl in the industry, word is starting to get around about my work (hopefully all good ;) ). It takes time of course but this is how it has to happen if you ever want to make a serious business of this. In the end it's all about the NETWORKING!

Me Doing Makeup

Bryan Shooting Virginia on a Bridge
Virginia