Client brief started as Manchester.
Then shifted to Paris. Not location. Mood. Reference.
Immediate concern.
Paris architecture has a specific language. Interior and exterior. Manchester doesn’t fake that easily. Question was whether the client needed accuracy or suggestion. I suspected suggestion, but the risk sat with me.
Timing was an issue. Late autumn.
Afternoon shoot. Light drops fast and turns blue early. Mixed colour temperatures after 3pm. Some locations with windows, some without. Consistency across the day was already compromised.
Budget was tight. That dictated options.
I couldn’t build sets or chase alternatives. Had to work with what was there and make it hold together visually.
Lighting decision was simple.
One film light. Single source. No fill.
Reason. Control and repeatability. More lights would slow things down and introduce variation I couldn’t afford. Film light gave predictable fall-off and skin response. Especially important with bags and materials.
Most frames blocked daylight completely.
Where windows stayed in, exposure had to be managed carefully. I prioritised keeping contrast consistent rather than chasing perfect balance in every frame.
Concern wasn’t client approval.
It was peer perception.
At this stage I was still building.
Trying to define a line in my work. This sat close to it, maybe slightly below. I was aware that showing it could confuse how people read my direction.
Paris reference solved in post.
Eiffel Tower added quietly. Scale kept small. Contrast reduced. Purpose was recognition, not deception. If it draws attention, it fails.
Images approved without issue.
I didn’t include them in my book.
Not because the process was different. Process was standard. Decisions were sound.
The content just didn’t represent where I wanted my work to sit publicly at that point.
This was still part of building a living.
Not every job is ideal.
Not every solution is clean.
You make it work. You deliver. You decide later what you stand behind publicly.
That judgement matters as much as the shoot itself.
