A lot of new photographers look at the work of professionals and lament, “I’ll never be able to do anything like that!”  Their reasoning is simple: Without the funding to trek to the four corners of the earth and hire talent from the sets of Hollywood, what are beginners to do to get practice and build a body of work? The answer is equally as simple.  Give yourself an assignment.  There are many ways to make this work.

1.

If you want to shoot editorial portraits, find models that are willing to sit for you, and create a reason for your images.  If finding people is difficult, use a website like Model Mayhem to find people near you who are interested in having their photographs taken.

2.

Another possibility is to find or start a collective blog.  The photographers at This is a Photo Blog aren’t all professional photographers, but they do get the opportunity to share their images with at least each other and whomever reads their collective blog.  The photographers at Smash All Your Idols run a similar program.

3.

If you like to be given a challenge, Digital Photography School has weekly assignments with a forum for all the contributors to post their pictures as well as give feedback to others’. It’s a great way to get practice in all areas of photography, and expand your creativity in finding things to shoot.

4.

Making images that are interesting and stretch your creativity isn’t hard, but it does take some practice.  Another possibility is to organize a group of photographers near you and start a weekly photography walk to explore parts of your area that you might not while alone. When you’re with a group, things that may seem mundane on your own can take on new lives and be interesting in new ways.  Moreover, the camaraderie that comes from collaborative exercises may provide other avenues for your creativity.

So even if you’re not Chase Jarvis or Anton Corbijn or even Annie Lebovitz, there are still chances for you to begin to excel at your work.

About the Author:

Thomas Scott is a photographer in Richmond, Virginia. He specializes in location portraiture. He likes bright colors, the laughter of children, a good beer and pretty pictures.  Drop him a line; he also loves to talk.  More information can be found about him at his website: www.punchphoto.com.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

My photographing style developed from working with my daughter, Alison.  The “Alison Series” began as a father/daughter activity.  I thought of the project as a gift for my daughter, and it wasn’t until I had photographed her for fifteen years that I considered exhibiting the body of work.

Alison was my first collaborator, and she felt free to participate in any photographic decision. Our sessions were short, casual, and frequent.  I would occasionally leave the lights set up in our home to take advantage of special occasions.

Crucial to the project was my desire to make photographs of Alison that depicted her life without my intervention.  If she had a friend who annoyed me, or had a romance with someone I disliked, I still documented the moment.  When I caught her smoking, I was very upset (this was particularly difficult, because her mother and I were former smokers who had struggled mightily to quit). Rightly or wrongly, I made the decision to include the ever-present cigarette and cup of coffee in the series.  (These situations highlighted the difficult issue for me of parental disapproval and intervention vs. my desire to objectively and artistically document the everyday “in-between” moments of her life over time.  Happily, Alison today is a non-smoker, as well as a musician and artist, who lives in Virginia with her husband and enjoys excellent relationships with her parents.)

What began as a simple father/daughter fun activity of “making images”, eventually blossomed into a years-long wholly collaborative effort resulting in seven three-inch binders packed with negatives of Alison.  They are a catalog of my memories. When I think of Alison as a young child, I immediately think of my photograph of her sleeping on Cape Cod (“Alison Sleeping, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1978″).  As she grew older and declared her independence, I think of “Driving Lessons, Columbia, Maryland, 1990”, or the image of her writing poetry with a friend in a local café (“Alison and Bean, Daily Grind Café,  Baltimore, Maryland, 1992“).  When I think of our trip to Ireland, my memories are triggered by the photograph in our Dublin bed and breakfast (“Alison in Dublin, Ireland, 1994”).

It was through my work with Alison in the early years, that I gradually came to a career decision that was pivotal:  I decided that what was most important to me was to photograph my subjects over an extended period of time.  I began using a 50mm wide-angle lens for my Hasselblad camera, which afforded me the opportunity to get as close as 12 inches to my subject, thereby creating an atmosphere of intimacy in the image.

The Alison project was the springboard which led to the development of many other long-term series.  My process for the ongoing documentation of lives is to make appointments with my subjects usually two or three times a year.  Despite the fact that we might not have seen each other for months, or sometimes as much as a year, the sessions are relaxed.  It is something like spending time with an old friend, but the focus of the meeting is always on the subject.  I now use a medium format Mamiya 645 and studio strobes with stands and umbrellas for the sessions, and there is almost a ritual in loading the camera with film and setting up the equipment to create a studio on location.  If there is any initial tension or discomfort on the part of the subject, it usually dissipates during this process.

I usually ask if the subject has a preference for a location for the shoot.  Lighting for a location is critical to the success of the images.  My objective is to create an “available light” look, so that the lighting source is not obvious.  I achieve this by using multiple light sources, e.g., by mixing ambient light with that from strobes bouncing off environmental surfaces.  The location is thus transformed into a studio, and becomes its own universe.  It seems counterintuitive, but the lighting creates an illusion of safety and comfort, where the subject feels free to be spontaneous. At the end of an approximately two hour session, when the modeling lights are turned off, the mood abruptly reverts to reality.

About the author:

I was born in New Jersey in 1940.  I received an undergraduate and master’s degree in sociology.  I taught myself the basic photographic process in the Marines and completed advanced studies at the University of Maryland. In 1975 started to concentrate on the portrait.  I currently live in Baltimore City.

To see more of Jack’s work, please visit www.behance.net/JackRadcliffe

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Photo by: Roc Herm

Photo by: Olivier

Photo by: Michael Creagh

Photo by: Graphistolage David

Photo by: Florencia Mazza

Photo by: Cámara Oscura

Photo by: Ashburn Eng

Photo by: Susan Anderson

Photo  by: Orgut Cayli

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Personalize

There are so many things to take in to consideration when choosing a location for your clients. The first thing I ask them is if they have something in mind already – somewhere that means something to them. If they can connect with the location, then you already have established chemistry for your shoot. If it’s an engagement shoot, and the couple wants to go to the place of the proposal, you already have a story in line before the actual shoot even begins. Say it’s a senior photo shoot, and your client plays football. Take him out to a football field, and I can almost guarantee he will be more comfortable in front of the camera, giving you better results.  I always try to find ways to personalize the location to the client from the very beginning.

Light/Weather

If my clients don’t have a location in mind, the next thing I think about is the light. What time of day will it be? What’s the weather like? Will we need a shaded area, direct sun, or indoor/diffused light? Personally, I prefer natural light as opposed to artificial lighting, so this part is important to me.  However, sometimes I have to adapt to the clients needs or other outside factors. I think of all the nicely shaded areas in town – whether it’s a porch, bridge, forest, overhang, or even the side of a building.

Variety

Now that I have all these ideas of where the good lighting is, I look for variety. I like to find locations that will offer different backgrounds that have the following: depth, color, texture, pattern, and personality. This way I know that the client will have plenty of options to choose from. You can almost always count on big cities to offer that type of variety in backgrounds. The structure and texture of buildings, whether they be tall, sleek, glass windows, or old, weathered, moss-infested brick walls, are always reliable. One of my favorite places I shot at was at the MARTA station in Atlanta(as shown). This one location offered so many different choices of backgrounds for us to use, utilizing so many of the artistic elements. I’ve seen really great photo shoots located in places like laundromats, local fairs, libraries, etc.

If you don’t live close to a big city, there are other reliable locations to choose from.  Old, abandoned barns/buildings offer color, pattern, and personality. You can even find plenty of color, texture, and patterns in leaves, flowers, and tall grass. I find that the less interesting the background, the more creative I get with the composition. It’s always a good thing when you find yourself in those challenging situations, because it is only then you discover new ideas.

While the elements I have mentioned are the basic ones I always look for, don’t ever stop looking for new ones. I have discovered others along the way such as movement and reflection.  Feel free to share any others you may have discovered!

When all else fails…

When the weather turns bad, you get kicked out of a building for trespassing, or you get attacked by chiggers in an open field….there is one more thing you can always do. Pull your client(s) away from any background, shoot with a wide aperture, and get close. Focus on the client and the composition, and don’t worry about the background… because if your aperture is wide enough, the bokeh is now your background… and bokeh happens to be one of my best friends.

About the Author:

As co-editor of Fuel Your Photography, Stacy is determined to provide inspiration for all photographers; from beginners to professionals. You can follow her on twitter.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Image by Mikkel Bache

Image by Ibai Acevedo

Image by Victor Eredel

Image by Shoot Me Photographers and Production

Image by James Craig

Image by Rengim Mutevellioglu

Image by Michel Rajkovic

Image by Rengim Mutevellioglu

Image by Carsten Jamrow

Image by Ibai Acevedo

Image by Magdalena Kmiecik

Image by Ibai Acevedo

Image by Anotnio Saba

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Why are stereotyped postures and  neutrality reflected in standard backgrounds the first ideas that come up when planning a book? Why don’t we consider creativity, art direction and photography direction in order to make the model or actor look their best?

There are, of course, issues that influence this. For example, why does the model need a book? They simply can’t be all exactly the same: synthetic and without our model’s personal character. Nowadays there is a tendency of photographers to believe they have to leave their creativity or style aside when making a book. On the contrary, to my way of thinking, the art of photography lies in trusting that it can be applied to any type of work.

A case in point is a project I did for Daniela Silicz. I believe summarizing the techniques I used can best explain the way in which it’s perfectly possible to use our personal style to meet our client’s expectations and fulfill our own thirst for art.

Daniela came asking for a book she could use to present herself as an advertising model, but she wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be too physically exposed. Therefore, I proposed different scenery where she could interact and be herself. In addition, I was looking for warm photos, where many styles could be reflected, and that she could present for various types of jobs.

From a technical standpoint, more specifically lighting, I chose natural or incandescent. In some cases it was reflected on circular discs, though in others we used natural sunlight, without any kind of problem popping up.

Regarding the framing of the pictures, they were thought to take into account art direction and lighting. It was of utmost relevance to avoid repeating poses in the same shot, in order to give her as many different photographs as she could have for her book.

Moreover, concerning locations and the clothing, they were chosen according to the style of the expressions we needed to portray, while being aware they couldn’t overshadow the model’s personality or importance. They should only support the concept depicted. The places we shot in were randomly chosen, by this I mean that we found them by chance. We figured the places shouldn’t be filled with clutter, so we rearranged every space.

In my personal opinion, it’s not all about renting studios, specific locations or clothing. Many times, it’s not only creatively stimulating, but also positive to reinvent the places we already know, or let ourselves be taken aback by others’ proposals. Some places we may never think of working in can end up being inspirational. We shouldn’t dismiss spontaneity, loosening up and letting our intuition drive us.

For example, the photographs you see here were taken in a 50’s terrace: dusty and humid. It had an underlying urban concept that caught my attention, it gave me a feeling of oppression. I found it interesting to create a sheer contrast between this and freedom, without any other feeling coming in between.

All in all, throughout this article I have tried to express the value I believe simple ideas have. Without adding anything unnecessary it all boils down to reflecting someone’s attitude, always bearing in mind these ideas should go along with our client’s needs. Still, we have the liberty to create something that truly satisfies us artistically, reaches established goals and doesn’t block our creativity. By these means we can escape the ongoing tendency of books that don’t evoke any type of concept on the grounds that it’s a merely dull task, less creative than spreads or editorials. We can make all kinds of photography creative…always.

About the Author

Matias Sinigoiis a self taught photographer who did not want to be subjected to a learning program. He feels that there is still much more to be discovered, and tries to find art in his photographs and designs without any external influences. He doesn’t care for people who don’t believe there is anything else that can be done to change the world…which gives him the incentive to keep growing and learning about what he loves so he can do something new or make a change.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)