Today after yoga class, my yoga instructor had a photo shoot with a photojournalist / art student. He told me his assignment was to capture an ‘environmental teaching portrait’. I thought it was pretty interesting he’d choose a yoga studio to shoot at. Intrigued, I peeked in a couple of times to see what he was doing and saw he was shooting through the big studio windows – with direct sun on one half of the subjects faces. It’s not necessarily what I would have done, but he had a vision and I didn’t want to taint it.
During the shoot, I noticed he was getting a little flustered as he was looking through the shots and asked him what was wrong. He said the lighting was throwing him off. Knowing what the problem was, I offered my reflector. “I just so happen to randomly have a reflector in my car” is what I told him. (and just to share, it wasn’t a ‘random’ occurrence to have a reflector in my trunk. I have a couple of shoots later this week and wanted to make sure I wouldn’t forget this key piece of equipment.) He said “sure!!” So I ran to the car to get it.
When I returned, he confessed he didn’t know what a reflector did or how would even help, so I explained it to him. (for those of you who don’t know, a reflector is used in this situation to brighten up the harsh shadows on the side of the face that is not in direct sun.) I told him to take a test shot with the reflector so he could see the difference. His face completely lit up when he saw the end results. He then thanked me profusely. We shot a couple of frames when he had his “I GOT IT” moment.
–
I’ve been thinking about this random chance meet up throughout the day. I doubt I’ll ever see him or any other photojournalist student at the yoga studio ever again. But was it about today that I decided to go to class, or that he decided to come do the photo shoot today? Or what are the chances I’d be able to offer a reflector?
Furthermore, I know I was unsure about my photography skills way back when. Did someone, at some point, randomly walk into my life and help me like I helped him? More importantly, how random IS random? Was today a random meet up? Or were the stars aligned and somehow, we were DESTINED to meet? Was my spontaneous photo lesson something that would aid this student for years to come?
I’d like to think today wasn’t random at all. That one day, he too will teach someone the fine art of using a reflector – or at least not shoot in direct sun!
Just kidding. I’d like to think that the photo community is as small as the reflector I was carrying (it was a 50-incher). That we’ll all one day impact someone as much as I’d like to think I impacted this one photo session, with the simple act of holding up a reflector. Afterall, that reflector is what helped me reflect on how far I’ve come: from an awkward photo student to a professional photographer.
