This would be a stunning set of landscape images anyway, but by placing a person in each image Gustav Willeit has wonderfully magnified the enormous scale of nature.
Renaissance Photography?
This photographic series, shot underwater by Christy Lee Rogers, is wonderfully reminiscent of Renaissance art. The colours, the shapes, the movement, it’s a joy to look at. My favourite discovery of 2019 so far.
Group Thinking
- Analysing The Group Shot.
Here's a selection of groups photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Dan Winters and Miller Mobley. All three are world renowned professional portrait photographers, so are a great resource for analysing what makes a group photograph truly work.
If we take a longer look at the top image, taken from a promotional shoot for a movie, the first impression is that there is a dynamic going on that couldn't apply to an individual portrait; in fact the image works on many levels, it just feels so right. Sure, the protagonists are all actors and great at posing, the camera loves them, but there's much more going on here that the photographer controls.
The lighting set up, the positions of each person and the poses are just about perfect. Firstly, there seems to be only one light source. Each of the men have only one side of their face lit up, known as split lighting, which is both dramatic and strong and commonly used in movie photographs to make the actor look dark and mysterious. The woman is facing the light source, so has a more open appeal.
Each person was almost certainly shot individually, (getting such a group of A-listers in one studio on the same day would surely be difficult), and then knitted together during the post processing. It doesn't stop them overlapping and therefore having an interaction, but it also gives an impression that each individual could be a good stand alone portrait, which is credit to the photographer's skill. Their pose and lighting is strong enough to take individually, but by grouping them together in specific positions a new dynamic is created.
Looking further at the positioning, Winters has taken into consideration the height differences to good effect. Tom Cruise, although a huge star and worthy of a central placing, is the shortest person here. Seating the two men either side of him - both of which perfectly hit the rule of thirds - increases Cruise's height relative to the others and gives balance to the centre of the image. The two figures on the outside give a broader balance, particularly introducing a rhythm to the photograph of standing/sitting/standing/sitting/standing drawing your eyes down and up accordingly. You start at Crowe, down to Bardem, up the arm of Cruise to his face, down to Depp, across to Boutella's face, then down her arm, towards Bardem again, completing the circle.
The poses are also interesting, as they too help move the eyes around the picture and give it a dynamic motion. Both seated men are facing inwards giving a kind of gravity to the centre ground. They also give a strong triangular shape to the image, particularly with the position of their legs, adding a secondary more central circle to the image. The arms of Cruise and Sofia Boutella overlap and point towards the person next to them, further moving your eyes along to the next person. Boutella also has her hands on her hips, an empowering pose, giving strength to the only female in the shot.
All of these techniques can be replicated relatively cheaply with any small group utilising a little knowledge gained from really looking at successful images and why they work so well. A great photograph sucks you in and gives you more the more you stare at it, and with groups you have an opportunity to design shapes, rhythms and dynamics that elevate the picture beyond the being a simple portrait.
More Than A Photograph
Photography isn't just about making pretty pictures. As a portrait photographer I'm interested in freezing moments, in capturing in that precise split-second a feeling, a look, or crystallising a little bit of their soul, but there's also another layer that interests me - I want to try and tell stories.
Maybe you see an emotion upon a face, maybe it's a tenderness or a strength in their eyes, but what I really enjoy is involving the viewer. A photograph can make you feel that sense of wonder you get from an unanswered question; Who is this person? What is the context here? Where have they come from? What are they thinking? What are they saying? How do they relate to the world around them? Who are they?
And so a good image can stir up questions and create a narrative, or leave the viewer wanting more, encouraging one to fill in the gaps, but always causing a pause and a depth of thought that you can only get when you stand still and stare. This storytelling is none more present than with another genre of photography: Photojournalism. Please click the link below to see a selection from some of the moments and stories of 2016. In this incredible set of images we get not just photographs, not just frozen moments, but distilled stories.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/dec/26/the-best-photographs-of-2016-in-pictures
No Knees, No Elbows
Anyone can take a photograph; is it in fact fair to say that almost everyone considers themselves some kind of photographer these days, (especially when you take into consideration the capability of smart phones)? However, not everyone is a good photographer. Of course judging such things can mostly be put down to subjectivity, but there are well-established guidelines and practices - many of them very subtle - that turn an image from good to "Wow!" and see a shift from amateur to professional.
As a portrait photographer I am always looking out for ways in which to improve and so the lessons on how to crop an image are an ongoing education. Master the art of cropping and you take a key step towards better photographs. Below are some helpful tips from Digital Photography School on some of the basics - did you know it's best to avoid cropping on the joints of the body (the knees, elbows etc) - so have a read through and be sure to lift something useful from it.
http://digital-photography-school.com/good-crop-bad-crop-how-to-crop-portraits
Smile Please!
I've been booked to photograph an entire school this week. Now, as happy as I am to photograph portraits, I'm not actually used to doing large school groups. My thoughts turned to how I will manage 400-500 children in a variety of group sizes - and it will be a case of 'managing' them - to maximise the chances of successful results.
I chose to primarily be a portrait photographer because I'm good with people, because I enjoy the interaction and because I have confidence in my people skills. However, it's one thing to engage with a single person and earn a natural smile from them, but it's another to get larger groups to all smile at the same time.
I came across this article by the excellent Photography Concentrate site, which offers up '51 Ways To Get People To Smile For A Photo'. I thought it fun, insightful and full of good ideas from an experienced photographer. There are plenty of suggestions and I thought that I might try the "ANGRY FACE! SAD FACE! SILLY FACE! HAPPY FACE!" idea for the school kids. I can imagine they'll all like the playfulness. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck...
http://photographyconcentrate.com/51-ways-to-get-people-to-smile-for-a-photo
Planting Seeds
Even the most original creativity is built upon inspiration. As a portrait Photographer it's good to keep the ideas coming and soak up as much stimulation from as many sources as possible. To help with this I keep a Pinterest account. I regularly search out portraits that pique my interest and get pinning. Whether it's an image I want to fully recreate, or simply take as inspiration for my own twist, or combine ideas to keep things fresh, Pinterest can be an awesome resource.
Find my Pinterest account here...
https://uk.pinterest.com/PHTGRPHC/bw-portrait-seeds
What am I looking at?
You can find my Instagram account @ Recsta
I've been on there for nearly 5 years now, mostly using my iPhone, which feels like the best tool for a social network such as this.
If you want to find out what catches a photographer's eye day to day, then this account should be an insight.
I am also known for going headlong into certain themed projects, such as my 'white phase', or my 'green phase', or my 'Art Deco phase', so keep up to date to see where these take me.
Hello world...
I'm a photographer. I love taking photographs. However, any photographer sources his or her own inspirations, so although I'll be posting content relating to my own personal photography projects and work, I also hope to post updates from elsewhere within the world of photography, whether it's simply a fantastic image I've found, a great gallery or exhibition that I've become aware of, a showcase of other great photographer's work, or simply links to interesting articles from the photographer's many online resources. This should always be a blog full of rich content, updated relatively regularly, giving insights into the professional photographer's world.