THE FIRST PHOTOSHOOT-New York City-Winter 2010

After I got signed, my agent made me come to New York and do an official photo shoot which cost hundreds of dollars. Modeling is EXPENSIVE!!! No, my company did NOT pay for it. I had to pay for it out of pocket, and trust me, it was NOT CHEAP. It was ridiculously expensive. I went to New York and met with the photograpgher and makeup artist.My makeup artist was a lady who worked with big American stars and models and my photographer was Roberto Ligretsi, a kind, pleasant Italian man. After i got the makeup done and hair, it was time to start taking shots.The first shot was a close up-- this was my first REAl photoshoot. It was different than my pre-model shoot because i had to listen to them, so i felt like a robot,I felt really stiff. But when I gave them my ideas, the pictures turned out the best.My makeup artist,Robyn, was sweet, but she told me she wasnt feeling well, so she was a bit on edge at times.She would tell me to do one thing and the photographer would say something else--yikes, who am I supposed to listen to??? She would tell me to smile a certain way, position my body a certain way-- she was helpful though because i think she said she used to be a model.after the close up head shot, we did three more shots with different hair and different makeup and diffeerent locations.We event went outside.The lighting wasnt working that well outside. We did the rooftop one and the street one.At the end, Robyn did not come out with us because she was super exhausted , so i took a brush and touched up my own hair.believe it or not, these pix turned out really well too because i just did what I wanted to do.Im learning that yes, you must take direction, but you must also do what feels good to YOU because it will always show in the pictures. I can go through my pictures and show you which ones I did on my own and which ones were posed. But at the end of the day,Ligretsi and Robyn were happy with the photos.More importantly, my agent, who would call the makeup artists every now and then, was happy too.As long as she was happy,I was happy.Yes, those first "official" photos came out marvelous.They were like my "test".. and they came out magnificent.