MELISSA

 My wife, who was the business reporter for the paper I was working for, was doing a piece on a local beach wear business as the owner opened the business in a new building that had been built especially for them. As the staff photographer, I was tasked with gathering images for the piece. As my wife finished interviewing the female owner, I asked if I could take photos around the sales floor which the owner, of course, gave permission. Then I told the owner that it would be nice to have some people in the shots and asked if any of her sales staff would consent to modeling a variety of the swimwear for me.

That is where Melissa came in. The owner had heard Melissa, one of the sales staff, mention she would love an opportunity to do some modeling. After introducing me to Melissa, we set up a time that she was available to model some suits. On the day of the shoot, I asked her to select a variety of suits to wear and I would just move her around the sales floor for shots. 

For this shot, I had noticed a full length mirror in an open spot, had her pose in front of it. I shot the entire shoot without flash using just the ambient lighting in the store. As Melissa posed in front of the mirror, I noticed a swimwear poster just to her left which caught my eye. With both the model in the poster and Melissa seeming to jointly be directing their gaze to the camera and having complementary poses, I squeezed off this shot. It is probably my most favorite image from the shoot.

And Melissa was perfect as a model. She was very relaxed in front of the camera and took direction well when I offered it. All in all, a very pleasant morning!