Tag Archive for: Expression

Expressions

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I always try to scout my models not only on looks (also pretty important) but also on the ability to express themselves, both in their poses but also in their facial expressions of course. Having a very good expression in a shot, which actually can be very subtle, can literally make your image go from boring to WOW.

 

Now this next example is a bit extreme (:D) but I hope you get the point. It’s not the idea of course to make all your models shout and scream or make funny faces, it actually can be a very “stiff” or “Emotionless” expression that works for the shot, and those last few words actually are the key…. it has to fit the mood and look/feel of the series you’re shooting, for example check out the work of two of my heroes Erwin Olaf and David Lachapelle bit totally different style of photographers but both work A LOT with expression, in fact when you check out almost all great photographers you will see that 99% of them will use this, and it’s logical of course, emotion is what drives us humans, still in many of the shots of aspiring photographers or starters this is a key element that is highly over looked.

 

Model : Anna

Anna May 4 2015 1310

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Go all out

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Don’t be afraid to go all out during a photoshoot, always think about movies, when do we “believe” the movie?
When everything is right, the makeup, the acting, the clothing, the lighting etc.
In fact model photography is just like acting, only our models do it on 1/1000’s of a second instead of 24fps.
So when I want to shoot something I’ll try to push the model for the right expression, get the clothing right, take care of the lighting and the location. When this all comes together…. you have a story telling shot.
So the next time you watch a movie from (for example) the Asylum you will see that the acting is bad, the decors are bad, the SFX is bad etc. etc. so you don’t get pulled in to the movie. Now when you watch a well produced movie where everything is fitting to the story this is where you get pulled in.
So when you want to shoot something with A LOT of expression/madness don’t hold back on expression, but also make sure the clothing is 100% perfect, in this case we used a great stylist and as you can see he did not only used a straight jacket but he actually also made it dirty, damaged etc, it all adds that little bit of extra. Combined with a model that REALLY went for it, and there you go, in opinion a cool shot.
So for your next shoot, make the clothes a bit dirty, push your model for expression or in other words…. think movie 😀

Lizzy July 16 2013-322 B2
For more tips to master YOUR photoshoot  get my book “Mastering the modelshoot”

The power of the portrait

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Often people struggle with getting that little bit of extra out of a portrait, now I never claim to be an expert on this (I think no-one really is), but over time I found out that it often helps to let the model “act”, in fact I always describe photography as acting on 1/4000 of a second.

 

This is our model Bertrie and she is going through several expressions, by converting the images to BW I added a little bit of extra mood, which for me works very well with these shots.

 

When you’re shooting a portrait try to work through different emotions with your subject, some can be subtle, some can be extreme, but keep playing. Now some people will say “my subject doesn’t have any emotions to go through” and I disagree, of course she/he may not be as expressive as this model (and many others) but there is always something you can squeeze out of your model. It often helps to first play around with them, have some fun before the photoshoot, make some jokes, make them laugh, but most of all make them feel relaxed.

 

A good photoshoot should never feel like a photoshoot, it should feel like “fun” or “acting” in other words a “flow”, as soon as you let your subject pose too static I often find the results lacking and “boring”. So the next time you do a shoot make sure to COACH your model, and I think you will be surprised.

Bertrie September 11 2014 (130 of 161)

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Using masks

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The face is an incredibly important part of a shoot, it’s where we get the expressions from, and of course it’s the first thing we look at.
So we have to make sure the face is always correctly lit and visible, right?

 

 

Well most of the times yes, but sometimes it can be very nice to play a bit with masks.
The nice thing is that first of all the mask itself will have some form of expression, but the thing that really draws me towards the use of masks is the way some of them respond to the light and what’s also very obvious is that when the model wears a mask she/he will have to work more with the body to create the look/expression you want, and this can give some interesting shots especially when you start combining it with some harsh shadows.

 

In this blogpost some images I shot with Anna during a webinar last week.

Anna Juli 16 2014 Webinar C1 B (1 of 2)

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