The number of people involved though was quite impressive considering it's a creative based shoot. Model, stylist, MUA/hair and four assistants. That's right FOUR assistants!!! And thank goodness they were all there. It couldn't have been a success without them. There was just so much work involved and it took us 9 hours just to complete 4 looks. What took the longest was all the co-ordination. You'll see what I mean when you see the actual series of photos.
There's a reason why we did this shoot though. It wasn't only to see if we could do it and grow from it, but also for publication purposes. Yes.... this shoot was done as a submission based idea. I've never submitted before and don't know any real procedure behind it, but decided to go ahead and try. I mean there's so many photographers out there that do it.... so what's the difficulty and hesitation? I know what my real hesitation was. How do I get my work noticed amongst so many emails that coming flooding through a creative directors and editors emails on a daily basis. How can I make mine stand out amongst the masses? My real intention by doing these submissions was more on a recognition basis rather that actually having any of the photographs be published and, if possible, receive feedback.
Well.... my journey begins as a virgin submitter. We did the shoot, I polished and prepped it for final submission then sat and pondered. Pondered so much that I didn't move and .... I think... basically marinated in my own old clothing. I blame my brain for over thinking and not actually doing anything. I mean.... it's not going to happen on its own. I need to be the one to do it. What's their to loose really? I won't get a response back. That's the worst case scenario when you think about it. If I don't hear back from a magazine then you try again next time and keep trying without... well...seeming like a stalker. So what was my first move.... I got up and took a shower then changed my clothes to feel fresh and rejuvenated. I think tried to figure out a way to see what magazines are out there and how to contact them. What's the default approach whenever we seek to find something on the internet? Well... we Google it! So that's exactly what I did. I googled. I have to say.... I was very disappointed. Google had failed me for the first time since I discovered it initially in my semi-mental state. I couldn't believe it. What do I do??!!? If google can't help me who can? Umm.... being overly dramatic here. In actuality finding online magazines using google wasn't the easiest method. Reason being is because the listings that it outputted didn't... well it lacked quite a bit. After googling the supposed info and not receiving anything majorly helpful I sat back and once again pondered as to what to do. Sat and thought... thought about it ... thought about it some more and decided "I'm bored... let's check what's going on Twitter land!". Went onto my twitter account and read up on recent tweets when it dawned on me.... browse online mags through twitter!!! Lo and behold... it worked! Huzzah!! After vehemently searching through twitter and being linked from magazine to another from its original source I was able to get info on over 30 different types on online mags around the world. Hell ya! So I emailed all I could find that I felt should be contacted for submission purposes. Yup... all 30 or so that I found. This little woman was on a mission boys and girls!
Long story short... many of the online mags actually replied back with great feedback! Unfortunately they wouldn't be able to use it for their next issue, but definitely look forward to future submissions by me. That's fantastic!! To be recognized and responded back to is truly fantastic. Definitely motivates anyone to keep working on future works and show it to the world... because truth be told, that's how you'll ever be noticed is by showing your work.
After all that... I was contacted by a magazine that's both online based and print as well.... Papercut Magazine. They actually accepted two of the images from the Underwater series and it's now up on their online based magazine and in print for purchase!
What makes it sweeter is that all moneys accepted will be donated to War Child International. It feels good and gifted. Please do feel free to visit their site and check out all the photographs whose work have been accepted. You'll find my two images on pages 28 and 29. To view the rest of the images from the series please visit my own site at www.nadiac.com. Any thoughts, comments, opinions and/or questions are much welcomed and appreciated :) Also if you'd like to try and figure out how it was all done please do let me know ;)
Thanks to everyone involved and especially my friends who assisted me that day. Couldn't have been successful without their support and contribution.
I have future projects in mind and would like to share three photographs with you that are available for print and will be used as a 'prop' for something soon! These three are going to be a part of a series that again will be available for print sales. If you would like more info please feel free to email me at nadia@nadiac.com. It's an ongoing project and hoping to be done in a few weeks time.
Another piece of good news I'd like to share is a very good friend of mine and close colleague Rob Davidson is now official a guest writer and contributer for the Foodists blog based in Vancouver. His photographs are devilishly delicious and his writing would make Pavlov proud. He's just had his first and new post up on the Foodists blog titled A Foodist Guide to Liberty Village as a restaurant reviewer in Liberty Village (Toronto, King and Dufferin area). Please do check it out! All photographs and writing by Mr. Davidson himself. As an addition do visit his Epicure In Light blog for recipe ideas and wonderful and very much drool friendly photographs taken by Rob.
As a closing note I'd like to share with you the people involved in the underwater shoot;
Photography: Nadia Cheema
Makeup/Hair: Carly Sellen
Styling: Hungre
Model: Cait (Elite Model, Toronto)
Assistants: David Addington
Chris Hazard
Urszula Kozak
Antoinette Scott
Cheers for now and stay tuned!
Prints available for purchase. Contact me for size and price details.All images are copyright. Nadia Cheema © 2010 www.nadiac.com
