Collaborating with Creatives
California is the perfect hub for creatives to come together and collaborate. And the central location where everyone goes to, is Los Angeles. What you can find there is the growing team TGS. To sum it up, TGS is a family of creatives (photographers, models, video-graphers, musicians, etc.) that help one another grow in their skills and their social media exposure. You can become member of this amazing group of people by applying. Or, if you’re a little intimidated to join (which you shouldn’t be because they’re super friendly and encouraging!), you can always go to one of their photo meet ups, which are open to everyone!
I’ve been a fan and follower of TGS on Insta for a while now. So when I moved out to Cali, I was creeping on their page and saw their story for a meet up! It was in downtown L.A. and in one of their more newer locations called the Collage Loft.
This location is almost 2 hours away from where I’m living. Mix in some of the wonderful California traffic, I decided to leave a little more than 30 minutes earlier. The meet up wasn’t until 12, and I guess not everyone was out and about like I thought they were going to be. In fact, my iPhone was telling me that I would be getting there an hour before I even needed to be there. So I figured I had a few minutes to spare, and I made a pit stop at Starbucks. Even with the traffic I ran into after my Starbucks stop, I still was an hour early. What did I do during that hour break? Well, any normal person would’ve probably strolled around the L.A. Fashion District and checked out all of the cool shops. But me? Nope. Instead I spent that hour driving around the same few blocks over and over again just trying to find a parking spot. The stress of finding a spot so I could get to the location on time, plus the caffeine from my drinks ended up putting me into a mini panic attack.
Luckily I was able to find a small parking lot wedged between two building that had one spot open. Perfect timing too, because I had about 5 minutes to power walk to the building and then find the room for the meet up. Once I had found the building, I walked into the lobby. Unsure of where I had to go, I waited in line at the receptionist desk. There I saw another girl with multiple bags trying to find her wallet in one of them so she could give her I.D. to the security guy. Something in my gut told me to just ask her if she was there for the same meet up I was. She said yes and asked me if I was a model or a photographer. Flattered, I said no, not this time, I’m just here as a photographer. We chatted a bit, got checked in, and I ended up helping her carry up some of her (many) bags to the loft.
Once we were upstairs, the adrenaline from not finding a parking spot, plus the excitement of taking pictures were mixing together. Not to mention the caffeine from my Starbucks stop was also still going strong. So I was just a little jittery and a smidgen anxious. Which seems like normal because this was my second week living in a new place, going to this meet up, and not knowing a single person there. But once I started chatting with some of the photographers and models, I instantly began to relax and connect with everyone there. I started to let go of my self doubt and worries, and just started to enjoy it like any other photo session—but with more models, and fewer location options. which was great for me because it challenged myself to get creative. And the best part was, if you caught on to one another photographer was going for, you could just join in/piggy back on what they were doing. Or you could just grab a free model and just start snapping pictures.
By the end of our time 2 hour time slot, I can happily say I had an amazing time! my favorite part was when I was able to get the models and photographers to crack a laugh. Quite a few people came up to me at the end and said how much they loved my energy. What can I say? Taking pictures makes me happy and excited, and I want everyone else to feel that way too.
I think it’s safe to say that I will be going to plenty more of these meet ups!
~Rachel
