Tag: creative photography

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The perfect setting for couple photo shooting

The perfect setting for couple photo shooting

Time stands still for a couple in love – ideal when this moment is captured photographically. For couple photographers, it is a nice challenge to capture the affection of two people for one another through a professional shoot.

The recordings are not as intimate as with a selfie, but a photographer can perceive even more and has completely different technical possibilities.
And the couple can concentrate on the most important thing: their love.

Every couple who wants a photographer to capture their love for one another is unique. The challenge for a couple photographer is to depict this uniqueness and to tease it out with the design of the shoot. In one moment, as in storytelling, a whole story can be told – the same goes for the relationship between two people.

Giving away couple photo shoots


in the time of the greatest bond between two partners, both feel like they are in abundance. So it makes sense to give away photos of the couple in love together. With such a couple shoot, there are many different ways to perfectly reflect the happiness of the two.

Giving away a photo shoot is a highly analogous affair. And so the region in which the couple lives is sometimes the most important selection criterion. Next, a couple has to decide which style they prefer: romantic, elegant or rather crazy and unusual? In order to implement this, the shooting location, the couple’s outfit and the posing are adjusted accordingly. There are no limits to your imagination. Is there a special occasion for the gift, such as an anniversary or wedding anniversary? A very special quality or a hobby that the couple share? The ideas for designing the shoot are diverse and make the decisive difference.

What are the ingredients for successful couple photos?


The inner image of a couple of themselves is captured in the best case in the most beautiful facets and colors in the photos. In order for a couple shoot to deliver exactly the images that a couple wants of each other, it is important that the ingredients are precisely coordinated. Before the shoot begins, a photographer should discuss the details with the couple so that the right preparations can be made.

The right location:


The photo location is selected depending on what a couple wants. Probably the best lighting conditions can be created in the studio, but maybe it should be an outdoor location that best characterizes the couple or where they feel particularly comfortable?
Is it supposed to rain confetti or have a crazy lifting figure built in? Then the location must offer the opportunity to implement these ideas.

The right outfit and appearance


the picture is about a natural expression, but it can look flawless. In order for both to make the best possible impression, it is an advantage to be able to offer make-up or hair styling during the shoot. It probably makes the couple feel more confident about getting professionally styled beforehand. The outfit should also be designed in such a way that it can withstand years of observation. In the case of a wedding or engagement, a couple may want to have their valuable outfits or accessories properly staged.

Posing


Of course, a photo shoot is a posed situation. However, it must not look like this in the subsequent photos. For photographers as well as for couples, it is a challenge to create poses that are as natural as possible in a photo shoot and positions that appear authentic and unsteady. All tips that help the couple to come across as relaxed and relaxed are helpful: For example, the wish whispered in the ear for dinner or the instruction from the photographer to think about the most beautiful moment in their life. Keeping an eye on the couple outside of the official photo shoot can also make a great picture.

Proper Technique


Photographic equipment and shooting techniques should be professional and appropriate. The photographer should know what his strengths are or what technique he thinks works best to portray the couple and the situation. However, technology should never be more important than capturing the special moment between the couple or makcalendar, the former competitive swimmer is not only causing a sensation with his customers with his wedding photos. In just five years as a wedding photographer,  Steven Herrschaft has already received over 100 awards for his pictures: Masters of Wedding Photography,  Fearless Award , Editor’s Choice Award – the list of honors doesn’t seem to end.

How does this young photographer do it? Soft focus is not his method of choice. Striking shadows and unusual perspectives, in which the groom’s bare feet come into focus, are more of a technical description of his style. But what sets him apart is his experimental and intuitive approach. In the style of a street photographer, he throws himself into the action and follows his instinct. He also regularly celebrates at the weddings until the end – every weekend anew. His finding: the chemistry with the couple has to be right, then emotions can best be captured.

To capture the right snapshots of a couple, you need to be imaginative and spontaneous. This is especially true for the photographer, because then he can still get a lot out of an initially self-conscious couple. In the best case scenario, the photo shoot turns into a romantic experience or a happening that the subsequent photos are only too happy to remind of.

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The white balance

The white balance

Do you know what the white balance is? But you should, because after the three exposure values ​​( exposure time , aperture , ISO ), white balance is the most important in photography. The other values ​​deal with the brightness of the picture, this deals with the color.

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1 The white balance in digital cameras

2 Shoot RAW for better white balance

3 Adjust the white balance manually

4 When do I hire something?

5 The gray card

We need the white balance to compensate for the different light colors. You have probably already noticed yourself, the sunset or a lightbulb is very orange, we go into the cellar and turn on the neon tube, the light is very cold. Our brains can do that and that color difference doesn’t look that extreme.

The white balance is supposed to compensate for this and the aim of the white balance is to make white look white.

This color temperature is given in Kelvin and is very easy to remember with fire. The hotter the fire, the more bluish it becomes. Same with white balance. The hotter / higher I set the Kelvin number, the bluer the picture becomes.

The white balance in digital cameras

At the same time we had to change the camera film to change the white balance. Today a simple adjustment of the camera is sufficient. In many situations, the camera should give a good result with an automatic white balance. It automatically searches for the whitest (most color-neutral point). The camera finds this in most situations and can, if necessary, switch to the brightest point of the image if no suitable neutral point can be found. This point is then used as a reference to correct the color of the image.

Of course there are situations in which the automatic white balance just cannot work. If you photograph sophisticated subjects that do not offer neutral colors, for example, a color cast occurs. This is the case, for example, at night or with a picture that only consists of bright colors.

In all normal situations, the automatic white balance (also AWB) delivers great results. At least for normal demands. But I’ll get to that in a moment 🙂

Shoot RAW for better white balance

The RAW format offers something incredible. Because your camera does not apply color correction until after the photo has been created, we can change it in RAW format. The RAW format is a file that, uncompressed and unchanged, contains all of the information that the camera can capture. The white balance is set, but can be changed without loss in image processing with a RAW file. This does not work with a JPG (except for minimal changes).

Is RAW the solution

Isn’t the solution just to always shoot in RAW and do everything in image processing? Definitely NO. Although I have this option, I almost exclusively take photos using completely manual white balance. The pictures already look good in the camera and I can assess them directly and show them to the customer without editing them beforehand. Everyone gets a much better idea of ​​the result.

Adjust the white balance manually

Like the exposure, the white balance can of course also be set manually. I already said that the automatic does a great job, so why a manual white balance? This is especially important if you want to keep a constant visual style in a report. All images always have the same color scheme and do not change constantly because the camera is of the opinion that the color should now be 1000 K colder.

Furthermore, the coloring can be controlled much more finely. Each camera has its own color scheme. With 100 cameras, different models and manufacturers, you can set everything exactly the same (same exposure / AWB) and still get different results. This can be counteracted by manually setting the white balance. An example: If I take photos in a park at sunset and use the AWB, my pictures are significantly more yellow than with manual 5500 K. That’s why I take photos on 5500K to make the pictures look the way I would like them to. The closer I get to this result, while taking pictures, the less work I have in image processing.

When do I post something?

  1. If you are at the beginning of your photography and have not yet understood the concept, put the Karma on AWB and you will get 90% good results.
  2. As soon as you already know something better and want to experiment a little, you can apply the defaults or the completely manual value to different situations.
  3. If you want to film, you should definitely work with a manual white balance so as not to change the color in the middle of the film.
  4. If you want to get the most out of your pictures, deal with white balance in the long term and learn how to apply it to different situations.

The gray card

Now it is getting more professional, because with a gray card we offer the camera a neutral surface with which it can determine the white balance much better. We can say how the white balance should be measured and from where, and get a much more precise result.

Some write that you can have a sheet of white paper or just any white surface. I advise against that. Every surface has a specific color. The wall was painted in eggshell and not in white and it doesn’t work anymore. Who tells you that the sheet of paper is 100% white? Your own eye may even be wrong here. A gray card can help here, but the result will only be perfect with experience and you can get it by trying out 😉

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17 movies and series that you have to see as a professional photographer

Frames From The Edge - Helmut Newton

Films series for photographers: the best suggestions

Often it’s nice to see a film about my preferred hobby – photography – instead of always going to take photos yourself. Especially in existing times a number of us are at home once again.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s the great documentaries about fantastic photographers like Sebastião Salgado or Peter Lindbergh, the Hollywood drama about the Bang Club throughout the apartheid period or the instructive short article about street photography in India. Here I have put together a list of inspiring series and movies about photography and professional photographers for you.

And now feet up and press the movie theatre on! I wish you great entertainment.

Smoke

Auggie (Harvey Keitel) is the happy owner of 4,000 photographs from New york city. His photos all have one and the exact same theme; one and the same perspective. And the picture is always taken at exactly 8 in the morning. No, Auggie is not a professional photographer and for that reason does not pursue artistic expression, Auggie owns a tobacco shop and constantly photographs the intersection in front of his old-fashioned store in Brooklyn. His little store is the focal point of numerous strange-looking characters and this is where the everyday stories that director Wayne Wang gives the screen are created in 4 episodes.

Really impressive, there is so much about mindfulness and watching the moment really carefully.

Back Window

The 1954 movie Back Window by Alfred Hitchcock is about the photojournalist LB Jefferies (” Jeff”), who is dependent on a wheelchair after an accident due to a leg in plaster. Out of boredom, Jeff enjoys through the window of his home what is going on in the backyard of his apartment building in Greenwich Village. The initial pleasure in the peculiarities of his next-door neighbors gradually paves the way to a compulsive curiosity. He observes his neighbor and devises a daring theory of murder. The video camera that James Stewart holds up for the showdown is a 35 mm camera with a big telephoto lens from the Exakta VX series – also called “Varex” outside the USA. A cinematic work of art.

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Picture Photography

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Picture Photography is a 2016 American documentary directed by Errol Morris. The movie checks out the life and career of Elsa Dorfman.

The salt of the earth

You undoubtedly understand the Brazilian photographer and picture reporter Sebastião Salgado. Until recently, the film was revealed in selected arthouse cinemas. Now the movie is likewise readily available for tv at home.

The everlasting moments of Maria Larsson

After at first living on with her everyday life, she keeps in mind the video camera once again after years and sees her surroundings shine in brand-new elegance by taking pictures. She meets the captivating photographer Pederson, who entirely messes up her personal life and, not least, brings in the annoyance of Maria’s alcoholic spouse.

Peter Lindbergh – WOMEN’S STORIES

Peter Lindbergh has been among the real greats in the style and photography company for decades. The director Jean-Michel Vecchiet has now devoted a whole film to him. It reveals the artist’s career up to today day.

High Art

High Art is a 1998 Canadian-American film directed by Lisa Cholodenko. It turns out that Lucy is none other than Lucy Berliner, a well-known photo artist who turned her back on the art market 10 years earlier. The director Lisa Cholodenko won with High Art consisting of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award from the Sundance Movie Festival.

Frames From The Edge – Helmut Newton

Frames From The Edge - Helmut Newton

Adrian Maben’s paperwork is not new – it dates from 1988 – and it is not important. Nonetheless, it is still worth seeing – especially for professional photographers. Because it not just shows individuals, however likewise the professional photographer and artist. Available on YouTube

Closer

In the middle of London, the unsuccessful author Dan and Alice, who has actually just come to England from New York, meet and instantly fall in love. When Dan was to be photographed a year later on for a novel based on Alice’s life, he flirted with the photographer Anna, played by Julia Roberts.

Annie Leibovitz: Life through a Lens

The film Annie Leibovitz: Life through a Lens by her sis Barbara Leibovitz shows in an impressive method the work and creativity of the photographer Annie Leibovitz. Many stars have their say and great scenes about Leibowitz’s work can be seen.

Finding Vivian Maier

If you like street photography, you ought to see the film Finding Vivian Maier Vivian Maier rose to popularity late after the 26-year-old broker John Maloof bought a suitcase loaded with negatives at an auction. The movie traces Maloof’s path, how he got to the little treasure, had photos developed and set out on a journey to learn who Vivian Maier was.

Abstract: style as art

Style is particularly interesting for us professional photographers. The series thus deals with design-oriented individuals from various disciplines, whose work can be application-oriented or creatively motivated. In addition to professional photographers, shoe designers and designers are also provided.

The Bang Club

On the other hand, I find it challenging to use the expression “famous” since it was challenging for me to see the film entirely. The film is a function film and therefore a bit spectacular and staged as an action film. The film is absolutely worth watching, even if it is frequently extremely ruthless.

Blow up

The British function movie Blow Up by Michelangelo Antonioni from 1966 is thought about one of the most essential movies of the 1960s. The movie takes place in the swinging sixties in London. The lexicon of worldwide films composes about Blow Up: “In staging, photography and representation, an outstanding film by Antonioni, which tries to reveal the fascination of the image as a representation of real or supposed reality and the possibilities of adjustment and at the very same time draws a portrait of the Beat Generation.”

Richard Avedon – Darkness and Light

A documentary about the American professional photographer Richard Avedon, who reinvented style photography in post-war Paris by introducing practical modes of representation. His pictures of stars and anonymous individuals in their respective living environment have actually likewise become famous. The movie reveals both sides of the artist and lets buddies have their say.

Presently offered completely length on YouTube:

City of God

The film City of God is based on real events. The material for the film has actually been reduced a bit, as the novel informs more than 40 stories, and Buscapé has actually been included as a leading person. He has his personal film developed in the editorial department’s photo lab, which features special close-ups of Locke.

Life – Dennis Stock

The photographer Dennis Stock meets the aspiring young actor James Dean at a party and hopes to advance his career through him. The two become friends and travel across the country to Dean’s hometown in Indiana and back to New York. Stock takes the world-famous photo of James Dean with a cigarette in his mouth. Years later, the photos taken during the trip make Dean an icon.