What does really make a shot? It's not the camera, it's not the lens, it's not the lighting gear you own or could buy. It's just your mind. In these posts I'll try to explain which thoughts were behind some of my shots.
First part: In a Sentimental Mood
The first thing I think about when I approach a shooting is what mood should I give to the final image. This is something that it is related to the subject, to your photographic style, to your experience and to your culture. It's very hard to explain in simple words the paths I follow when I'm into this process but usually the end result is to have pretty clear in mind an "imaginary" image, or in better English, I previsualize how my image should look alike.
Maybe there will be some details that I will change later, the point of view, the angle of vision, the actual placement of the objects, but the feeling and the "theme" of the image is decided at this stage.
I find very important to take my time to complete this process in a satisfactory way as it's a really good starting place to create a good shot. All the subsequent decisions will have a clear path to follow and your work be a lot simpler.
Beside this if you'll ever work in commercial photography you'll find out that you need to fulfill your customers' "imaginary image", in other words you will need to translate the briefing you receive from a customer to a picture that he could recognize as the one he thought about. The better you will learn how to satisfy your "internal" customer, yourself, the better you will be able to to satisfy your customers' needs.
It's also a logical way to work: once the mood of the shot is set you'll have to collect props, objects, etc to create the set that you need to accomplish your vision. Not following this workflow usually result in a great waste of time and in a "babbling" image that will lack that "something" to be complete, no matter how much you will move things around.
Let's make a visual example.
I had this champagne based cocktail to illustrate with a shot. Which words do come to your mind when we're talking about champagne? France, tradition, elegance, love, couple. Then I rummaged my memories and I found a scene from the movie "The Dangerous Liasons" (inspired by the the eighteenth-century French novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos).
In that scene Cécile de Volanges (Uma Thurman) wrote a letter with a quill pen on the back of the Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich) while they both were laying on a bed. I thought it was the perfect moment when a cocktail like this could be drunk. I then proceeded to get the props to create the scene: a pair of embroidered pillow shams, a quill pen, a real 19th century letter, an ancient looking metal tray, a champagne flûte and some cherries to both give the hint of the main ingredient of the cocktail, both because the sensuality of the fruits and the added color.
As I explained before I already had pretty precisely the scene in mind so I could organize the shooting very quickly. The lens I used and the lighting scheme were consequential: a short tele and just a soft light from right almost perpendicular to the camera with black panels on left and behind.
This is why I always say that it's not so essential to concentrate yourself on gear but on ideas. Of course you need gear: if I hadn't a softbox to replicate soft window light I had to resort to natural light and I had to constrain my shooting time in the day hours. But if I hadn't previsualized the scene and its mood, gear couldn't save my day for sure.
In the next post I'll continue to talk about how I compose my shots: "Second Part: Shapes of Things to Come".
(Alessandro Guerani is a professional photographer specialized in food shooting. He lives in Bologna, Italy, and is available for assignments to create the images you always craved. Read the "About me" or contact him using the "Mail me" in the blog menu above.)
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2 commenti :
Alessandro, I do it almost the same way. I have the picture already in mind before I start as you described it in your post.
Sometimes I try to escape the route though and try develop a 2nd idea, which is different from my first approach. As you mention it, when you work with clients, you should be able to realize the clients idea and make it your own. And it is a good training to try a different approach.
This is a wonderful and helpful post explaining clearly how you think about your photos! I still have a lot to learn to develop such skills.
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