I have been photographing as a hobby for about seven years. In 2018, I inherited a Nikon D5000 from my mother, and since then, I have enjoyed photographing my friends, nature, and pretty much everything.
I vividly remember the slide showing the “Girls’ Night In” photoshoot idea during my first Her Campus meeting. I immediately became excited. After the meeting, I approached the president of the club, Kelsey, to express my interest, and she showed me some inspiration for the shoot. A couple of weeks later, I was the photographer!
Before the first shoot, I was very nervous. I had never posed anyone other than my friends, worked with props, or photographed people with the intent of the shoot being posted on social media. Overall, I felt some self-inflicted pressure to do this shoot right. I played around with the camera the night before to understand the settings. I also made my roommate model for me and looked at more inspirational pictures. Overall, I was nervous, but I felt as prepared as possible, given my lack of professional experience.
When I arrived, the inspiration and set-up excited me. The goal was to create a cozy, fun, girl-staying-in vibe. Kelsey showed me the Pinterest board, and we began the shoot.
I was fortunate with this first shoot. The models were so sweet, and conveniently enough, since I had never done a photoshoot before, neither had most of them! Everything went smoothly. We experimented with various props and poses; the models were all incredibly positive and easy to work with. When I left the first shoot, I felt it had gone very successfully, and I was looking forward to doing it again.
After the first shoot, I was satisfied with the outcome of the pictures, but I wanted to change the poses for the second shoot. I felt that many of the images were too similar, and I also knew that I hadn’t given the models enough direction on how to pose during the first shoot.
With these things in mind, I came into the second shoot with an open mind. I had fun switching up the poses, and again, the girls were so sweet. I was so fortunate to work with models who were so understanding and upbeat!
Ultimately, for my first photoshoot, I would consider it a success! This shoot was such a good learning experience as well as a way for me to build a collection of my photography. Additionally, I had lots of fun playing around with different presets and editing software, and I also now have a better idea of what parts of my photography skillset I need to work on. Overall, I am so happy I had this opportunity, and it honestly just reaffirmed my love and passion for photography!
Check out @hercampusncsu and @saraboydphotos on Instagram to see the rest of the photos and models!
DETAILS:
Styling: Models own
Photographer: Sara Boyd
Location: Valentine Commons Student Apartments
Models, as featured: Maggie McCrostie, Riley Goff, Estrella Naumuk, and Alexa Davidoff