Imagine and make it so

I was asked to create some pictures for a band. What they were looking for was pictures that looked like they were shot while the band was playing in clubs. However the band was not going to be playing in a club. They were going to be in a concrete tilt up office park. And the space was poorly lit and less then ideal being cramped. Photography is often not about what is but what could be. Even after the model spends a week not eating because she has a shoot she will still get a few hours of hair and makeup and then lighting tricks to try and make her look "better". After all of that the image then will get worked over for hours in photoshop. I was shocked when I saw some top models when then weren't being shot. They had zits and other then being sickly thin didn't look like models at all. They just looked average. I don't want to further the false ideas of what a woman should be which is why I am not drawn to high fashion photography. I do love wedding photography because it's real. The people are real and the emotions are real. I love locking all those moments away so that they are saved as memories forever. I also love finding the best way to show the couple. That means playing with the angles and lighting to their best advantage. I never want to Photoshop to the point were I have created a new person but I do want to make the couple look as good as I can. All that to say photography is not just standing there catching whatever comes along. Often you have to create the moment, and color, and feel. So how do you make a office park into a club? Lights. Think back to shows you have been to. There are lights moving and flashing all over the stage. When people see colored lights on a musician their brain tells them it's a concert. Most events I have gone to have blue light over head or in the rear of the stage. They will have other colors from the front. I tried to give this feel by setting up 3 SB-800 flashes with colored gels. I used a wireless trigger on my camera so I could walk around freely. I would often have to move the lights as I shot different members of the band. A few of the shots I tried with an on camera flash fired at the ceiling and used to trigger the other flashes. I have been shooting for awhile and it still took me 3 or 4 shots with adjustments between each to the flash strength and angle before I would get color that I liked and then I would just point and wait for the right moment. I say this because I have seen too many people give up on learning off camera flash because when they tried it the first time it came out poorly. A little know secret of photography is you can often cover a lack of natural talent with massive amounts of hard work. So next shoot your at look for ways to completely change the look. Think to yourself how could I shoot this so that the image would shock the person because it looks so different in the camera then it does to their eye. I don't like being passive, in life or in photography. If your completely passive then your a victim of what ever comes your way. Don't be a victim photographer that couldn't get a good shot because the lighting was poor or whatever. Be proactive and make your moment happen.

About the smile

IF the camera was turned back on you what would it capture?

Most photographers think and worry about if their subject is smiling (or looking like they are stoned if they are shooting models) but they rarely think about what their own face is doing. I recently shot with a product photographer who has been working full time as a photographer for the last 27 years. He is a great guy and I have learned a lot from him. In fact I was watching him to learn more when I saw the face he made every time he took a picture. It was quite funny so I teased him about it. After 27 years he wasn't aware of the face that his face would changed. As a product photographer this isn't too big of a deal because things without souls don't care how you look at them but people do. Although I shoot other things I am primarily a wedding photographer. Though I really enjoy shooting weddings for the first few months after I started shooting professionally I didn't realize what my face was doing. I would get so focused that my face would look quite serious and hard. The problem was the couple would be looking back at me and see that their photographer would take a picture and look down at the back of the camera and frown. This does not relax the couple or bring out their best looks. My wonderful wife and I were at a wedding together that I was not shooting and I was watching the photographer to pickup any tricks. The guy seemed over the top the way he was talking and laughing with the couple. I made a comment to my wife and she said yea but it's working. I went back to watching and even though the photographer was very over the top I could see how the couple was reacting positively to him. I started thinking about some of the weddings I had just shot and how I had affected the couples. One of the things I sometimes do while driving home from a wedding is ask myself what could I do better next time. I got a piece of paper and wrote smile in big block print and put it in my camera bag so that next time I would be reminded to smile. The next wedding I shot I was reminded to smile when I went through my bag to make sure I was set. I smiled and laughed and I could tell it was working. I started getting better looks and better pictures. People know that I have shot a lot of people at a lot of different events and worry how their event and their looks stack up. When I would look at the back of my camera and frown I was not helping their worries. I enjoy what I do and there is no reason not to let my face show it. I makes for happier people and better pictures so why wouldn't you? You might not if you, like me, have never thought about it. Be conscious of your own face at your next event and see if it works for you. The picture on the left was taken at the end of a second long day of shooting. I was up in wine country shooting web shots for a horse ranch. It was warm and I followed a couple who was riding a pair of horses around the ranch taking pictures and when I got back the owner of the ranch was kind enough to get me a glass of water. One of my cameras was turned on me after the couple I was shooting asked to borrow it. I wish I could say that I always was still this up beat at the end of a shoot but that's the goal.
So about the smile. Turns out the most important one is yours.