I was a hunter once. It did not work for me very well. I admire the folks it works for, but it's just not for me.
I prefer the studio. Actually, I sit down and sketch by hand (yes, pencil and paper) and put down what I want to create photographically. I guess Keith would call this 'previsualization'. Then, I send these sketches to a few models, who I think would be ideal for the job. After mutual agreement, we get together and try to replicate the sketch and envision the print, at which point, things may change quite a bit, because there is more visual information. Keith, help me out, this must be the 'visualization' part, right?
I attached an example.
Ah okay here is the post I was looking for, interesting.
I sometimes do this kind of sketching too, though I am not so good at it and I usually just rely on what's in my head. I really like the idea of sharing a sketch with a model, that seems a great way to communicate with them and help them understand what goal you are aiming for.
This reminds me of something I did about a year or two ago. I do not have any experience with figure work so it was quite a rambling exercise! I was out walking in the woods and saw a shape that inspired me, so I went back later that day and took a quick snapshot. I took the colour one (left) digitally (sorry but it's cheap and quick!) and I immediately saw it as a b&w subject (right) worthy of revisit with film.
The vine seemed alive and serpentine and wanting to communicate with a model, so that got me started imagining the possibilities. So next came the sculpture.. something I remembered, that seemed to inspire what I was trying to produce.
Honestly I couldn't tell you right now the sculptor nor the title, it was something I searched for and finally found. A scholar of art history will likely recognize it straight away.
And finally, many weeks later and after consulting a model came my attempt at the photograph.... and the print:
So.. the snapshots and my rough mental sketches and finally the classical reference definitely helped reach this particular composition... and it aided the model as well. In the end, I didn't quite get what I was after. In fact the use of the hands is unresolved in the sculpture (I can only assume that an intended cloth and staff are both missing). And my own mental picture didn't resolve it either, so I found myself having to make something up on the spot when the camera was set up! It didn't quite work out. But the model and I did our collaborative best and it was a good experience to have. The final image is still in my head and still untaken... this (above) is the closest I've come.