Chianne Aubrey is half of The Aubrey Twins. With her sister, Chania, we've been planning a print shoot all year, but schedules kept intruding. We finally worked out the details and approached the shoot as a Pop Up this past Monday, Dec 5th. No permits or PA's, curb parking, on-camera diffused light source, etc.
On location outside of the local art museum in Lancaster, CA, we had a gorgeous charcoal slate exterior wall, which served as the perfect backdrop for this ad. All of the elements worked against us right off the bat -- the ambient light was decaying rapidly, the wind picked-up as we stepped onto set, the temperature began dropping noticeably ... such is a non-studio shoot. However, the twins were troopers, they listened to my directions well and performed with an intuitive shorthand that allowed me to keep shooting. They gave option after option throughout the session.
We did three set-ups: interaction between them, then separate solo portraits -- the image in this COMP ad is from the solo session with Chianne. We had to shoot in between gusts of wind and intermittent traffic. Chania was quickly tweaking sister's hair and wardrobe, turning the prop can to feature the Coca-Cola® ZERO brand, even positioning Chianne's fingers.
An hour later we wrapped. My hands were stiff from cold, they were both shivering, yet smiling and then ... their true creative fervor shined. They did their own 5 minute pop-up fashion shoot displaying Chianne's full wardrobe -- with a Samsung phone! -- their tool of choice -- gangsta. I jumped in the truck to bring on the heat!
I look forward to working with them more as they discover their creative voice. In fact, look for them as photogs/art directors for an upcoming national book release.
