Objectifying the Other Gender

Yesterday I did one of the more bizarre things you can do in college. I had always wished I were a guy so I could do an upper back photoshoot for myself (among other reasons) but wishes don't work that way so I projected this wish on the guys in my class instead. Surprisingly they were cool with it, and even brought their assigned props on Friday for the photo session, and that made me very nervous because:

1. This is my first time shooting guys
2. THEY ARE SO SUPPORTIVE I FEEL EVEN MORE PRESSURED TO PRODUCE GOOD PICTURES
3. I wasn't sure if the low-key look I was going for would work in a small crammed classroom
4. My flimsy homemade foam-and-aluminium-foil reflector was going to fall apart anytime soon (should have gone for the RM5 car sunshield instead)

But anyway if you suck at photography you have to make up for it with your editing skills and luckily I've got the Internet to help me through and I got some decent pictures thanks to that:



I'm planning to have another session with the other guys who couldn't make it this time so I will be posting the whole series then. I was working with very limited equipment: a tripod, a speedlite, a wireless trigger and the stupid reflector so I was really glad when half the class turned up to watch the photo session like it was a performance art show. They were my light stands and my reflector holders and also musicians to lighten up the atmosphere in the room and make the models less nervous about being topless in such an unfamiliar setting.

I was thinking that we really need a photography studio in our college, precisely because you don't want to be going into a classroom for some study time only to find a topless photoshoot going on.