Behind the scenes of a hiphongkong photo shoot

For the "sexy issue" last month, I put together all kinds of wacky stories. I spent a night clubbing in Wanchai, I toured sex shops, I took an aero-sexy dance class, and  made a pole dancing video.

About a month ago, I managed to coordinate a photo shoot about two people having a tryst. Originally, I was looking for a kitschy love motel with neon light filtering in from somewhere, but after pounding the pavement in Mongkok, Wanchai and Causeway Bay, the best thing I found was a bar in Central in an old pre-war building. There's a big neon sign right out front and the atmosphere of the old building just really showed the essence of Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, after all the work I did scouting for the location, we arrived at the bar only to find that the neon sign was not illuminated. Oh well, we ended up having to work with whatever  resources we had.

But let's backtrack for a second and let me tell you what producing a shoot like this involves:

First of all you need to come up with a concept and a story- In this case, I'm doing a sex issue so I thought it would be great to photograph two people having a love affair.

Secondly, you need to find the location- This involved a few weeks of literally walking in and out of buildings with neon signs near the windows and checking to see if the place would be appropriate for the concept. Finally one night, a girlfriend of mine was having a party at Senses 99- an underground bar which is only open on weekends or special events. The place feels very bohemian and very Hong Kong at the same time. Plus there's a huge neon sign just outside the terrace. I decided it would be a great spot for the shoot.

Third, you need to find a photographer. This is not a problem in Hong Kong as there are many photographers trying to build up their portfolios and many of them do have talents. The challenge is trying to find someone with the same "vision" as yourself. In fact, finding someone with vision and imagination is already a challenge to begin with. I had gone back and forth with John Tadashi from Red Dog Studios about doing the shoot, but in the end, he was just so busy, we could never get our schedules to jive.

Luckily, a friend of mine who is a brilliant videographer and photographer (he runs a great website called modelux.com) ended up being in town and he was down to do the sexy shoot. I took him to several potential locations and when he started telling me what poses he thought would look good and what angles he'd be shooting from, I knew that he'd be perfect for what we were trying to achieve.

The next step is recruiting models. This can be very difficult in Hong Kong as agencies double and triple book models and the bookers usually wait till the last minute to tell the models and the clients who got the job. Anyway, I'm not into traditional models. I prefer people who have a unique look or are "character actor" types. Fortunately, I somehow ran into a couple perfect for the shoot and they were totally keen on doing it. See exactly how keen these preview shots taken with my snappy cam:

After recruiting models, there's a matter of hair and make-up. I actually got lucky here too because a few nights before, I ran into Darrin, the owner of 'The Hairdressers' salon on Wyndham street. He said he had a wicked stylist named Tran who does all kinds of edgy hairstyles. I was so impressed by her skill and vision. She managed to turn our sweet 'sugar and spice' model into a punk rock diva in 40 minutes. I explained the look I wanted and Voila! she busted it out exactly! See exhibits A and B below

Then, after getting all the players to show up somewhere at an appointed time, I usually like to brief everyone on the concept of the shoot and describe what I want the shots to look like.

I've conducted about 15 photoshoots now.  I sometimes make up a storyboard so the shoot tells a story. It's not completely necessary, but in my opinion, layouts that tell a story are more captivating than just having a model in clothes. For "Tryst" I wrote down all the potential shots on a piece of paper and the rest we loosely ad-libed. Of course the models and photographers have a big hand in the creation of the shoot.

One thing I insist on is for everyone involved to have fun and get something out of the shoot.  When we got to the venue, I put on some Black-Eyed peas and mixed everyone some Grey Goose and cranberry. By the end of the sexually charged shoot we were laughing, dancing, and playing instruments. It was the most fun 5 people could have on a random night.

Everyone was really happy at the way the shoot went. The models looked terrific, the hair and makeup was amazing. The venue, styling and photographer were all AWESOME!  It was an a good opportunity for everyone involved to get exposure, gain experience, and express their creativity. Plus it was just flat out fun to do.

After the raw material is shot, we need to edit, timeline, photoshop, potentially add music and present the  finished product in a visually pleasing way. That, my friends, is alot of work for a few photos. Good thing I enjoy doing it so much.

See the finished product here:

http://www.hiphongkong.com/fashion/tryst/t ryst.htm