The devil is in the details

One of the stories I often tell during workshops is one where I almost disappointed my model/stylist Nadine.
She had this awesome outfit and great boots to complement the outfit.
I took some great shots, but whatever I tried everything we shot with the boots in the frame was …. terrible.
This is the moment I just realized, sometimes you just can’t get it all in the way you want. We are now many years later and I’m pretty sure we could pull it off now, and recently I got my change to test it.

When Nadine is our model during the workshops/events it’s always a surprise what she thinks off.
Her styling is always stunning and complete, and even when we don’t shoot full body her opinion (and I agree) is that to get into character you need the full outfit, PLUS you never know.

When Nadine came on the set with this outfit I immediately knew I wanted the shoes in the shot.
Now we could just shot it full body, which I did 😀

It doesn’t breath

I know it is a maybe a weird title but for me a shot like this doesn’t work.
Yes it looks nice, love the outfit and the pose, also no problems with the lighting (well done Frank :D), but…. it doesn’t breath.

There is something in photography called “negative space” I would love to rename this to “positive space” simply put because it’s a vital part of the shot to make it “breath”.
Now I could just turn the camera from portrait mode to landscape mode and place Nadine somewhere on the Rule of 3rds and be done with it, but than the “negative space” doesn’t really add something, so we have to convert it to “positive space”.

From a recent photoshoot we still had some balloons left, so we added those on the floor to create some depth (I added a few in Photoshop).
And because we LOVE to see shapes I asked Nadine to lift her leg at 3 and extend the foot.
The reason we do this on 3 is because I always want to “see” the motion in the final shot. If you ask a model to KEEP a pose it will almost always look less natural than if you count down/up and let the model take the pose live.

As you can see this looks a lot better and more pleasing.

I now also have much more space for a proper vignette and some lens flares, plus we can now also see the beautiful parts of the dress we held up.

As you can see, switching from portrait mode to landscape mode on your camera can make a huge difference. I can highly recommend trying it out.

The workshops

During the workshops we talk about a lot more than just lighting setups.
We start the workshops with Q&A in which the attendees can ask any questions, some will be answered right away, but most will be incorporated into the workshop.
But besides lighting we also talk about composition, workflow, creativity, gear, retouching, working with models and a lot more.

Also want to visit one of the Dutch workshops, or events?
Check fotografie-workshops.nl for the agenda.
And don’t worry if you don’t speak Dutch, we can switch the workshops to English, or you can book a 1:1 workshop in our studio, or even online from your comfortable chair.