Getting in touch with my dark side

Just because I’ve been working to increase my creativity in portrait composition at this workshop with David Beckstead doesn’t mean that I would ignore my instincts.  I couldn’t help but take some classic portraits and capture a few moments of genuine emotion.  I think it’s important to find a balance between the photojournalism, the traditional portraits, and the creative portraits.  After all, even if you like the creative stuff better, it’s still good to have a nice picture that you can give to your grandmother.

We finished off our photo shoot at Strömstad Spa indoors.  The young couple who had dressed up to model for us (not professional models) were getting a bit tired, and they seemed relieved to relax on the couch.  It was quite dark there  in the lobby, but instead of trying to compensate for it, I embraced it.  I think these shots look particularly dramatic in a dark and contrasty black and white.  As 16 photographers jostled for position to photograph them, I could see their eyes glazing over.  I chose to work a different angle instead.

The man when from having that “deer in the headlights look” to looking more like an example of bad taxidermy by the time I got into position to take the Beckstead shot, but if you ignore that, I think the low angle shot which is balanced with the pattern of the artwork on the wall above them turned out quite well.

We returned to Tanumshede where we refueled with pizza for dinner before finishing off the workshop at the town hall.  Here we played with simple artificial light sources in and otherwise dark room.  In the first pictures, a video light provided a great directional light.

A simple flashlight turned our male subject into someone so dramatically creepy he could have escaped from a vampire movie.

For our female subject, the flashlight was shown through different objects such as an oven grate, a bottle of water and a crystal bowl.  I’m not sure how I feel about the harsh shadow behind her in these shots, but it was an interesting idea.  I’m looking forward to taking the concepts from this workshop and trying them out to see how they fit with my reality.

Reflections in wedding portraits

I love photographing reflections and the way the subject can be distorted to give an impressionistic feel.  I also love the layering you can get with the reflection, the surface itself, and sometimes even something under the surface.  After studying leading lines and reflections at the parking structure, David Beckstead‘s workshop continued at Strömstad Spa‘s reflecting pool.  By now, we were seeing architectural lines and reflections everywhere.

David also talked about looking for the shot between the shots–those fantastic candid moments that happen when people think they’re done posing.  I’d like to think that I’m pretty good at getting those shots, and I got a few good ones during the workshop too.

The reflecting pool by the marina was much more the type of location that I would expect for wedding portraits, so I couldn’t resist taking what I consider to be the classic image.

The reflecting pool was also a great place to study architectural elements and leading lines.

Then I noticed that the combination of the reflection and the rocks at the bottom of the pool was even more interesting.  I got out my polarizing filter and played a bit with that.

The thing about reflections, should I turn them right-side-up when displaying them?  I think that might work better so long as the original subject is not included.

Portraits at the parking structure, a composition challenge

The workshop with David Beckstead continued after a lovely lunch at Tanums Gesgifveri with an outing to Strömstad Spa & Resort.  The surroundings were gorgeous, so I was more than a little surprised to find out that we would be photographing at the parking garage.  I must admit that I had never considered a parking structure as an appropriate backdrop for wedding portraits, and I hadn’t given it a second glance.

Perhaps this was no ordinary parking structure?  It had great reflective surfaces, patterns, and leading lines.  I’ll never look at a parking structure the same way again.  Hopefully I’ll never take anything for granted again, because there are interesting photos everywhere just waiting for somebody to find them.

It really was eye-opening to see the shots that David Beckstead composed.  I’d like to believe that despite 16 photographers pushing and shoving to get the same shot, I came up with some unique compositions too.  (Actually, being a group of Swedes and Norwegians, there was very little pushing and shoving–it was all very civilized.)

I do a lot of bridal portraits, and portraits of the couple together, but usually my grooms decline to be photographed alone.  Hopefully now I can convince them how cool if could be!

Creative composition for wedding portraits

A few days ago I attended a workshop with world renowned American wedding photographer David Beckstead.  The workshop was hosted by the Swedish photographer Benny Ottosson in Tanumshede.  I’m so inspired now that I can’t wait to show you some of the pictures.  There were a lot of pictures, so I’ll divide them up.  This first batch is frcom Grebbestad church.

With my background in nature photography, I’m well aware of the rules and concepts of composition, but when photographing weddings, it’s easy to be lulled into a habit of taking the pictures that are expected–capturing the action and the emotion but perhaps not really thinking about composition.  This workshop challenged us to think about composition in different ways, challenging what we know and getting outside of our comfort zones.

 

We also learned to challenge our perspective and shoot without looking through the viewfinder.  At first I thought it would be very difficult, but I quickly got used to it, and the results were impressive.  Now I know how to get the low angle shot without having to lie on the floor of the church!  Likewise, I now have a chance of being able to shoot over the crowd even when I’m not the tallest person there.

We also got to work with some unconventional posing.  I somehow doubt that “dead bride” will become one of my standards, but it was fun to experiment with.

I love shooting with only existing light, so that part of the workshop was nothing new to me.  It certainly does add drama to the shot.

One more aspect of the workshop was working with reflections.  We did lots of that later in the day, but we also made use of the plastic cover to the sound system’s mixing board.   I must admit I never would have thought of that, but the result was really cool!