Umi in Hoboken — Starky Photography

For every shoot I do, I plan a mood board ahead of time, email it to all parties involved, make a series of notes for myself and general shot list. More often than not, though, I will get so in the zone that I will go the majority of the shoot without looking at any of these plans. BUT I find that making the plan is actually what allows me to be flexible and inspired, to be able to adjust to unexpected lighting conditions, delays, or any other number of things that can surprise you on a shoot. By the time I’ve picked up the camera, I’ve already pre-visualized what I expect to happen as well as a few possible pitfalls and how to deal with them, so that when I’m in the moment, I’m don’t get flustered. It’s just the way I work, and, though I’d recommend everyone always have a plan before shooting, the trick is to know your own strengths and weaknesses.

That said, for this last set of this shoot with Umi, we kept it spontaneous, which is an element you always want to—dare I say—plan to include in each shoot. Take a look at the following pie chart for a raw look at how much of this last set was planned.

How Much of This Set Was Planned

As you can see, a very small sliver of this set was planned for. The only part that was planned was that, knowing that Umi is a trained dancer, we might include a dance portion somewhere in this shoot, and also that Umi brought this dress because she wanted to shoot something in it. The rest—the wind, the amazing, soft lighting, the sweet color in the sky, the je ne sais quoi of a black dress on a rooftop—as the chart reveals, was totally unplanned. I hope you guys like these few shots as much as I do!

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Umi is represented by Stetts Model Management and Kristen Fiori was on set for makeup.