Photo Shoots

For my very first blog post, I wanted to give you a glimpse into my world and what better way to introduce you to it then to talk about the behind the scenes look at one of my favorite things to do.

I wanted to make sure I had enough sleep and could fully reflect on my day yesterday. One of the many things I get to do as an author besides writing the stories, is photo shoots. Let me explain.

If you’re lucky enough to sign with a publishing house, you have an artist who will take your vision and make the cover for your book. As a self-publishing author you have a few choices. The majority uses stock photo’s but risk the chance of the same photo being used by another author which can pretty much lead to problems that I’m not going to get into. Some like myself hire models and photographers and take on this task ourselves.

This is something I decided to try 2 years ago. Granted this hasn’t come easy, one of the most important thing to consider while doing this is finding the right people to work with. And….making sure they can all work together. This is not an easy task. The first and hardest part is finding models.

I got really luck the first time I decided to do this and ended up with some keepers that I’m still blessed to work with. Others not so much and we have parted ways but all in all I’m still grateful for their part in my dream.

I’m going to skip ahead and talk about my currant group of models for Whispers Of Autumn and the Whispers Of The Afterlife series. When I first started writing I knew right away who I wanted to play Autumn. Hands down, without even a second thought Vicki was Autumn in every way shape and form. And was on board as soon as I asked her if she wanted the part.

Next was trying to find Tyler. I had someone in mind and after I asked I realized he wasn’t who I wanted. The person I wanted who reminded me of Tyler I didn’t even know personally, but he was this nice guy who pumped my gas and always seemed to have a smile on his face. So, it took me months to get brave but finally gave him my card and asked him to check out my page and if he was interested let me know. Two days later, Heath was on board and ready to go when I needed him.

To my surprise, when I said I was going to add to the book, both were ready for the ride again. But I needed 3 more characters. Not too much a problem, John who I had used before was excited to be Leo, and I loved how fast he started taking on the role and getting into character. For Zoey, I looked to my best friend and her beautiful daughter Raven to take on this roll since Raven was in love with the first book.

Now, I needed someone for Zara. The original person I asked had a life changing event happen and with a heavy heart I asked her to step down. It was a tough choice to make and after talking to the rest of the cast, it was the right thing to do. In giving her the times she needs to heal her heart, the next project I have for her will be amazing.

So, we needed a new Zara, and thank you Vicki, she brought us Bri. She fit in perfect and the new cast was set.

Now, on to yesterday and the photo shoot. Everything that could go wrong kinda did. We had a very late start. The male model we got backed out due to a death in the family. People were moody because of just getting done work and having a bad day. Surprisingly, I was less stressed then I usually am. I took it in stride and just kinda let it go and said we can still make it a great day.

Than…..it happened. As an author you create a vision in your head of your story. You see the characters inter act and months of working it all out then bleeding it onto the pages suddenly…..comes to life. See I wanted to try and do something different. I wanted to make a live video trailer. I wrote out scripts and then begged them to just try and see how it would go. Some grumbled, (Heath and John) others were excited and went for it, (The girls).

It’s hard to explain the feelings. I’ve done shoots before with other models, Vicki and John on different shoots. I’ve always ended up totally stressed out and drained at the end. Yesterday, I was relaxed and happy. Seeing some of the scenes play out and then having them pose for the pictures, it was like I really was in that world I created.

They (the cast) will tell you that I have done so much for them. We are all really the best of friends and watch out for each other. I do have contracts with them and they are taken care of by me but in my eyes never enough for what they do for me. Some authors if they are lucky enough, can have their books made into shows or movies. I’m not going to lie, I would LOVE that to happen. But….nothing will ever come close to the feeling I get when all the joking around ends, Vicki, Heath, Bri, John, and Raven drop who they are and become Autumn, Tyler, Zara, Leo and Zoey. And bring to life for a split second the world of Whispers Of Autumn.

Then John and Heath will start laughing or say something off key and we all break into laughter and memories are made. <3

Peace, Love, & Books,

JC

#photoshoot #models #books #friends #author #WhispersOfAutumn