Sydney.Claire Photoshoot -

I have always enjoyed doing photoshoots! The preparation of it, the outfit picks, the hype, the lighting, everything! It’s so exciting and I think that was why I thought that photography was what I wanted to do with my life when I first entered college. Turns out, it wasn’t my thing but that doesn’t mean I don’t really enjoy being a part of the whole photoshoot experience.Now I have learned that I really enjoy either being in front of the camera or even picking out the outfits and styling the model!

Going to school for photography is already a difficult thing. You’re going for a degree where your grade in a class is 100% totally up to the bias and preference of your professor. Think about it. If they don’t like your photos, you get a bad grade. If they do, you pass. It didn’t help that the professors at Lesley University were so one-sided and did not support you unless you had the same photographic and artistic taste as them. (which at Lesley was Fine Art) This is something that Sydney and I both struggled with.

The school was solely fine arts based. They would always try to make it seem like they were diverse in their art and that there was a place for each artist, but that was never true. The two years that I was majoring in photography, were the worst years of my college experience. Every semester that passed by I was looking at other schools and debating dropping out and restarting somewhere else. (It also didn’t help that I could have gone to MassArt for basically nothing.) I felt like whenever I was in the art building at Lesley, I was being mocked. I was never taken seriously, and it was like my work was never enough because it didn’t have some deep storyline, or explanation behind it. I cant say that this is exactly what Sydney was feeling during her time there, but I can only imagine how hard it was for her to stay all four years in a program like that. I am so proud of her strength in being able to stick with it and come out strong and with such amazing raw talent!

This past week, I was able to do a photoshoot with her, and it was absolutely amazing. Not only can she take the photo, but she knows how to connect with the subject. She knows how to make them feel comfortable, and make them look like they were born to be in front of the camera. She is honest, critical, and filled with compliments during her shoots. This comforts the model and because of her skill and awesome personality behind the camera, we were able to get these awesome shots to follow! Click through to see all the photos!!