After a fashion... Blue Mountains Photographer goes 20's

I'm woefully behind on blogging. There's a lot happening in my life right now and it's just crazy!

Anyway, Katoomba held the Roaring 20's festival a few months back and I enjoyed shooting many of the events.
One of my favourite shots is this one, with models from the Charlotte Smith 'Dreaming of Chanel' /Darnell Collection. These guys aren't professional models, but girls who just 'suit' the clothing and era.


Check it out next year for awesome 20's events, dress up, pop your tux or flapper dress on and come join us.

Via Flickr:
Part of the shoot for the Roaring 20's Festival in the Blue Mountains.

School Formal

I shot Korowal's School Formal evening.  Amazing to see these kids I've shot over and over reaching their final day with school....

Elvis Festival Parkes, NSW

Some fun news this week.  Photographs that I've taken are being featured in the 2011 Elvis Festival Calendar.
If you've never been to the Elvis festival and you're a fan, or just curious, it's a great trip.
It takes place in Parkes, NSW, home of the radio telescope featured in the Australian hit movie 'The Dish'. 
Parkes and Forbes, the nearby towns, are historic wheat towns and as such have a large amount of industry on the outskirts. Drive in to both towns however, and you'll come across some sweet old houses and beautiful scenery.  Forbes, just ten minutes down the highway from Parkes has more old houses than Parkes, but Parkes is where it's all happening.The Elvis festival began one night as the brainchild of a couple of Elvis fans who owned a restaurant.  They held an Elvis theme night and the rest as they say, is history.
In 2010, enough visitors to the Elvis festival manage to double Parke's population and the festival is growing each year.  It's now held over 5 days and hosts over 140 events.

If you're a photographer it's a dream come true.  Some are there for the silly costumes but others take it all very seriously, with full 50's, 60's or 70's regalia and the classic cars are divine.

You can get the Elvis Express from Sydney if you don't want to go by car, and it's certainly an experience.   It's a Countrylink train which is loaded with Elvis impersonators, so your journey is somewhat interesting.  Thrown in to the price is the entertainment, some gigs at the festival and access to the festival shuttle bus which takes you from venue to venue.  Well worth it if you don't fancy walking for hours!
I try to go every year and it's a blast.  This year I may even be convinced to dress up.
Whilst I've had a lot of photographs published in the past, the Elvis Calendar is so far the coolest.  :D

Headshot time

Been very busy this week with headshots.

Now, headshots are commercial thingymabobs essential for everyone who wants to get their face 'out there' into the wide world of public land.  You want to look like yourself, but you also want to look dynamic and professional, right?
Well sure, but how do we do that?

Generally I shoot commercial headshots with a prime lens.   Nikon's 50mm lens is my weapon of choice for portrait shots, but when I take my tiny lens out of the bag, the client usually asks 'Is that it?' because they're expecting some all singing, all dancing piece of kit the size of the Eiffel tower. 
Well because it's tiny, doesn't mean it doesn't kick ass!

Try it some time.

I also shoot with a telephoto lens, because I love the depth of field it gives me (That's when the client says 'Wow - that's big!).  You'll really stand out.  It really depends on what look we're aiming for.

My client B has co-authored a very interesting book, entitled The Sixth Wave, and I highly recommend you add it to your reading list.   It's fascinating stuff.
In her case, we're looking to get nice and close up and keep the background as a relevant part of her shot.  It's lovely aged wood which has a great texture and colour.  It's a nice shot given her science journalist background which we're keeping relevant.  We're shooting outside using perfect afternoon light so no need for a load of lights and a softbox.

No teeth always makes a commercial headshot look better.  We're going for quiet professionalism here, not grinning like a chimp.  Whilst my client has lovely teeth, we keep them out of the shot.

The client wants something natural, a little relaxed and something that is 'her' - not too posed and not too 'studio'.

I keep close up, shoot rapidly whilst my client is relaxing into the session and we're done.
This shot to the above is taken whilst I'm on a ladder I bought with me - a pretty essential part of kit if you're going to shoot people - which we'll talk about later.


Next post, I'm going to talk about how you can achieve great results with your headshots or in fact, any session in front of the camera.

Style

Style has no formula, but it has a secret key.
It is the extension of your personality.
Ernst Haas

My eleven year old daughter has told me that she can always recognize one of my photographs, even when they're with a load of others, like on the Korowal school website for example.  This is because they have a certain style.
Someone who's just started in photography recently asked me how long it took to 'define' my 'style'.
The honest answer to that is that I don't really know though at a guess, probably two to three years if we're talking about what I present to you when I take a photograph right now.
But style is not just about 'seeing'... it's about showing who you are through your artwork.  It's an extension of your personality.

But how can you develop a style?  And why should you?  Is it really that important?

If I gave you a load of photographs from Ansel Adams, Yousuf Karsh and Jerry N. Uelsman, (three of my photographic gods) you'd have no problems sorting them out because of their difference in style.

Creating a style is about a unique way of 'seeing'.  The way you see things is the way no-one else sees... and the way you see is coloured by who you are.

 People don't watch enough. They think. It's not the same thing.
Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri, above, has it totally on the nail when he says people don't watch enough.  As a photographer, you need to see whatever it is you see and the only way to do that is watch.
It always amazes me how many photographers copy other famous photographers styles.  I see it time and time again in the exhibitions I visit.  There's nothing really wrong with this legally.  It's a good exercise to produce something 'in the style of', and you'd probably get asked to do this if you were at art school or doing a photography course... but for your photography it's not your vision you're using, it's theirs.
Developing your own style isn't about copying someone else's style, it's about knowing who you are, the way you see and letting your work become an extension of who you are inside.  If you make a living from copying someone else's work, you're not including your own personality in that.


Everyone seems to use Photoshop these days.  PS is full of filters, actions, and techniques.  These are not new and throwing the latest PS technique over your shots won't give you style.  PS is merely the software version of what has been available in the darkroom for many, many years.  Often, working in PS or other software manipulation can lead to new discoveries... new ways of processing, but PS is not a style in itself.  It's a medium... Something that can help you achieve your personal style.

I know of some photographers who PS the hell out of their shots, when the shot that came out of the camera first was absolutely fine and good.    Did it need to be re-coloured, softened, sharpened, actioned, etc?  Nope.  Leave it alone.  Let it speak for itself.
There's a pressure here... 'What do you mean, you don't use PS?'  'Really?'
Yes, really.  I have PS.  It sits here monolith like on my computer and wow, it's a great tool, but I rarely open it for any of my photographs.  It's not what defines my style.  If you'd be lost without digital manipulation tools, then why is that?

And as regards my style, I'm not sure that I have entirely finished developing it.  To say that I've finished would be an acknowledgement that I've stopped growing as a person, and that's just simply not true.  Whilst I guess my personality has pretty much set, my growth as who I am has not.  If I look at my very early photographs, they're very different to what I do now, technically and in style.
I'm still journeying.
My only advice to those who are developing their style... keep taking photographs, keep making mistakes, don't be afraid of making errors, keep learning, keep experimenting but most of all, enjoy it.

Style isn't a destination, it's a journey.

Weddings - by Solitary Photographic

There's something quite lovely about a wedding ... especially when the shoot is in the beautiful Blue Mountains of NSW, Australia.

Welcome to Solitary Photographic's blog. I hope you enjoy your stay.