When the Model Cancels on your Shoot at the 11th Hour by Alexandra Gunnoe

I knew the first shoot went too well.  Everyone was professional, friendly and on time.  It set up my expectations for smooth sailing from there on out, but now I know better.  Don’t get me wrong, this 1940’s inspired shoot ended up great.  But I almost had a nervous breakdown when I first heard the news. 

First off, I know there are stereotypes about models being flaky.  I’ve had the fortune to experience mostly otherwise in my past.  I feel like if you create an excitement about the shoot and have a genuine bond with those you’re creating magic with, they will show up, right?  Not necessarily.  Now remember, the location was in the country, and most models were coming from London or Bristol.  So when this model emailed me an hour before the shoot I didn’t have a lot to work with.  My makeup-artist and hair-stylist, Nina Spinks, came all the way from London and she had already arrived to the location when I found out the bad news. 

Let me also mention that I had just traveled from Seattle to Devon the night before.  It was a bit of a long, hellish flight and I wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.  My first instinct was panic, and I sat with that for a few minutes while trying to figure out what to do.

Luckily my amazing stylist, Kate Sly is 5’10”, has beautiful, classic features and was willing to jump in and act as the model.  Not only did she pick out amazing clothes from Vintage Tramp and Hay Does Vintage, she also fit the look I was going for perfectly.  Check out some of the photos we achieved below.  Also thank you to Dan Shears, the proprietor of the West of England Transportation Collection.  Without his involvement, none of this would be possible.

*Disclaimer: I’m migrating my blog posts over from blogspot to AlexandraGunnoe.com and the dates are a bit different.

Alexandra Gunnoe Photography