Jason Tag Photography

Now that the month of September is winding down, I figure it’s a good time to look back at all the thing that happened this month.

Julia - September 6 2008

This month I got to work with four models I had worked with previously.  The first shoot this month was with Julia.  A very beautiful and energetic woman.  I love working with her because she’s not really a model and so she thinks differently from most of the models I work with.  Because of this she doesn’t get locked into modeling poses.  When she poses it’s more organic and natural.  I also love that she is a free spirit.  She seems as though she wants to just experience as much as she can and truly enjoy the moment.

Ashleigh - September 6 2008

The same day I shot with Julia, I also got to shoot with Ashleigh.  Another amazing woman who is just a joy to work with.  This was our second shoot together and I would say that she seemed more comfortable with me and the work this time than the first shoot we did.  Ashleigh is another woman who is fun to work with because She really seems to be able to look within and get really introspective during a shoot.  The shots we get tend to feel more personal, as if I’m capturing her experience.  Capturing a moment in time that is beautiful and magical.

Sarah E. - September 10 2008

The third shoot of September was with Sarah.  Sarah was one of the models I had worked with early on.  At the time of our first shoot I was still working out a lot of issues and trying to figure out how to work with models.  As a result I only got a few shots that were any good and I always I felt I could have done much better with her.  She moved away shortly after our first shoot and I felt sad because I was unable to work with her again and fix the problems of the earlier shoot.  So when she wrote me to say she was moving back I was stoked!  I couldn’t wait to shoot with her again.  I also felt that at the time of our first shoot, I didn’t have the experience to capture her properly.  She is one of those models that is able to internalize and to create a feeling of peace and persoanl reflection.  A truly beautiful woman who I’d like to work with more.

Sylvia - September 21 2008

My fourth shoot of the month was with the model who started all of this… Sylvia.  This time we got to shoot on the Island of Oahu.  She had wrote me and had said that she would be on Oahu for a few days.  So I took the chance to work with her in my playground. Sylvia is an amazingly talented model and a beautiful person who also has a good understanding about photography.  Working with her is a joy because I learn so much whenever I work with her.  Everything from the business of photography to getting a better angle for a shot or finding the right setting for a pose.  She also has a great sense of peace that makes being around her a real treat.

Overall September was one of my busiest months ever and it was a great deal of fun to work with these four amazing women.  I hope that I’ll get to work all of them again soon.

The only drawback to having done 4 shoots in the past 2 weeks, is the amount of editing work that needs to be done. I’ve finished editing the shoot with Elizabeth and Julia. At the moment I’m putting together a gallery of the shots with Elizabeth and will be updating the members area later today. After that I’ll be able to start editing the shoot I did with Ashleigh on September 6th. I hope that by next Wednesday I’ll be able to finish editing the shoot with Sarah last Wednesday. It’s a lot of work…but it’s also a lot of fun so I don’t mind so much…

Tide Pools

It ended up that I had two shoots yesterday. The first shoot of the day was a sunrise shoot that turned out to be pretty awesome. We went to a location that I had shot at before. Although this time we hiked down around some tide pools that I had never seen before and got some great shots. The model looked beautiful against the volcanic rock and the ocean.

The ocean was a bit rough and a few times we had to dodge some waves crashing against the rocks we we’re shooting on. Later in the shoot we moved to a beach that was totally deserted. So we played in the shoreline and got some really cool shots there as well.

Banyan Tree - Sept. 6 2008

The second shoot of the day was with Ashleigh. I loved shooting with her so much that when the opportunity to shoot with her again came up I took it. I knew we would create some really beautiful and interesting images. We shot at a wooded location that I’ve haven’t shot at in a few months. We really had a lot of fun walking around the area and finding fun things to shoot with.

On both shoots the new lens performed beautifully. I don’t see a big difference with the shots but I can say that it made a big difference during the shoots.  I’ll write more about the lens a little later.

All in all it was a great day for shooting and both models and myself had a great time.

Before I did the shoot with Ashleigh, I knew that she had tattoos. I had only done one shoot with a model who had a tattoo before and we tried very hard to work around it. Trying not to photograph it. It ended up being an interesting challenge. What ended up happening was that I mostly shot the model from the side without tattoos. Which led to having most of the shots from the same side.

Tattooed Nude

With Ashleigh I decided that it’s her body and it’s she’s chosen to decorate it this way. It’s real and I find it beautiful. As I drove to the shoot, I had an idea to get a few close up shots of her tattoos. Partially as a way to embrace the tattoos as a part of her being, but also because I thought it might be interesting to see the tattoos in the context of the nude. Now I think I’m onto something with this thought.

Now I’m thinking it might be interesting to do a whole book on just tattooed nudes. it might be interesting to see images like the one above of tattoos and the nude body.

Waimnalo, Hawaii Aug. 6 2008

Today’s shoot was with a new model. Ashleigh had never posed nude before but had always wanted to. The moment she told me this it sounded familiar. It made me realize how I started shooting nudes is pretty much the same as how she started posing for nudes. Having a desire to do it, but needing another person to help fulfill the dream. In my case it was a model. In her case, a photographer. I feel very honored that she chose me to do her first nude shoot. She is an amazingly beautiful woman. I hope that she will continue to model as I know she’ll do very well.

Waimnalo, Hawaii Aug. 6 2008

We started our shoot on the backside of Pele’s Chair. I was surprised at how comfortable she was with her body and with being nude. Considering that this was her first nude shoot, I expected her to be a little more reserved. I’m glad that she was comfortable because it seemed to give the rest of the shoot a feeling of exploration and discovery that was quite nice.

Overall, It was a lot of fun to hang out with such a beautiful person and capture beautiful images. It was a joy to work with her and I hope I’ll get to shoot with her again soon.

Aloha,
Jason Tag