About technique and more.
Many people ask me about this so I thought it was time for another blogpost about backup….
In my opinion one of the most important things in the world to prevent dissasters.
Just to note, this image was found online so it’s not mine, but I think it describes the situation VERY well.
During the photoshoot it’s very important to have a “connection” with your model.
If you don’t the images will turn out…. well pretty “standard”.
To get more interesting images it’s often enough to play with very subtle expressions.
During the workshops I always have a lot of attention for this, and today I share some images we shot during a workshop with Lenaa, now very closely look at the expressions that Lenaa shows, in my opinion this is one of the key elements in the photoshoot, of course light is important etc. but if the model looks “standard” or “empty” well…. you end up with something that could have been much better.
Now don’t get me wrong, the expression will always be very personal, what one loves the other one hates, so find your own way, but start experimenting with the very subtle expressions and then go to the more extreme ones.
Sometimes a portrait can be incredibly simple but effective.
The next shots were done during a workshop with just an Elinchrom beauty dish with grid aimed at the model under a slight angle. The power for me in these shots is the very subtle expression enhanced with some wet hairs.
Now whenever you’re stuck in a session and don’t have the creativity to do something really cool with accessories etc. just wet the hair of the model and start playing with that, the longer the hair the better of course, the results will probably please you.
Most questions I get are about posing.
How to?
With what?
What is cool?
Are there books?
Etc.
Well I can be short in my answer most of the times, there is no real “this is how you do it” solution, every model is unique and different, some models can take a very extreme pose better than others. For me the most important thing is that the pose tells something, or is just fun. And I think this is often te best advise, don’t try to emulate/copy poses you see from the fashion magazines, now don’t get me wrong they can be a stunning start, but always try to build something fitting the model.
I will often start with just letting the model relax in her pose and I will start building from there, just easing her/him into poses that are fitting for them. Or sometimes…… you just do something a bit more fun like todays picture.
