Why?
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Why do I take the photos that I do? Well, here are a few shots along with a bit about why I took it and maybe some stuff about how as well.
Click on an image to view it full size😀
Bang!
I knew that Camille’s boyfriend collected lookalike hand guns and asked if she could bring a couple. I’d seen other images similar to this and wanted to try out the idea and see if I could do it too.
I asked her to look as if she was going to shoot me, for real, no remorse, no sadness, just a dead calm determination to make the shot count. I’m glad it wasn’t loaded!
(Untitled)
This wasn’t planned until the shoot actually started. First time I’d shot with Tara so it took an hour or so before we really gelled as a team. In a couple of shots, I saw this particular look on her face: a steady, slightly worrying gaze, a real strength in her look. She crouched in that slightly odd pose, gave me The Look and snap: I got the shot.
Why leave all the studio gear in the shot? I think it makes it more interesting and adds to the story. Quite deliberate.
Exposed
I had spent some time talking to Leanne about various shoot ideas and one of them was exploring psychological themes such as anxiety, stress, fear and the so on and how we might turn such themes into photographs. This was setup with the single, harsh light (included in the shot), shot quite wide angle, 30mm to be precise, to make her appear small in the frame. I particularly like the crack in the wall, even though it runs right to left up towards her head instead of left to right.
(Untitled)
Annaleigh is quite a striking model with some quite striking outfits. I’d planned quite a few shots very similar to this. Shot from a low angle and at around 24mm which would really accentuate her height and make for a very striking image which I thought suited her look.
Strength
This is from a fairly early shoot with Ewelina who, if you know anything about me, you know I love working with! Although ostensibly a fashion shoot, she could put on this very strong look; very piercing gaze. This was precisely the sort of look I wanted: some real strength. Simply lit with a pair of strip softboxes, one on ¼ + power and 1 on ¼ - power to give some modelling to her features.
Beneath
Another ostensibly fashion shoot, but Sophie and I put together a few images with a much darker theme. This is not the sort of shot she normally does, but she was intrigued to find out if it worked and really liked the results. This continues a rather dark theme of mine, not unlike ‘Bang!’ in many ways where the subject is very much over-powering the viewer.
With the exception of the psychological themed shots (of which I’m hoping to do some more before Christmas), I like to present the models I shoot (exclusively female) as anything but vulnerable. I personally don’t like to see women portrayed as vulnerable, defenceless or weak. I much prefer to show them as strong, full of character, unbreakable.
Papped!
I wanted to try a paparazzi styled shot with Sophie. We were doing a ‘car shoot’ anyway (she had a new car!) so I just got her to sit in it, lean towards the window, put on her big sunglasses. “Look like you really don’t want to be photographed but you are being photographed” I asked her. She obliged. I added a bunch of grain and then a slight sepia tint. Not sure why I chose the sepia but I prefer it to the original straight gray scale image
Why do you take the images that you do?
Show me your images and tell me what made you take them 😀