Even though it may not seem like much from the outside, the time and effort required to create the perfect photo are substantial in the final product.
Bear in mind I started out in the corporate world and years later fell in love with photography and have decided to start a business. It is a crazy idea, especially considering my age, but I really enjoy it. I didn't get the opportunity to take creative images in school, and I never had teachers to push me or help me with creative concepts. I was always into sports and physical activity. So I have to be my own teacher and give myself assignments to:
- Push myself creatively
- Continue to build and improve my portfolio
- Collaborate with other creatives
In order to improve my portfolio, I recently did a photoshoot with Shayne a surfer who has some great tattoos on his upper body. Shayne is not local, he hails from Canada and was in Barbados for a while having fun surfing.
The first and obvious challenge is making contact especially when you don’t know the individual. Sometimes it might feel like a proposition, especially if the potential subject is female, though this is far from the case, so the approach has to be carefully thought out. With Shayne it was a pretty cool approach with a simple question “how would you like a photoshoot to show off those tattoos” - it then went on from there.
Once a date and time has been sorted out the location becomes an issue. I prefer a studio setting for the simple fact that the finished image will not have any distractions and the finished image focuses on the subject - not the scene the subject is in. If an outside location is required you then have to scout for a suitable place with the correct background that would be free as possible from distractions or objects that would take away from the subject. A number of considerations go into this, especially safety and accessibility. With Shayne, the location was nearby where he was staying, and near a coffee shop for when the photoshoot was finished - which was very handy for afterwards.
The day of the shoot comes and I have to prepare the studio and ensure all the lights are working, have outfits available of which I have 5 for women (still working on a couple of outfits for men). If it is a location shoot I have to pack everything, including lights, props, and batteries (very easy to forget), and double and triple-check that I have everything.
Once the shoot is complete I go through the images and select the images that are not completely in focus and file them separately - these will usually be deleted later. I then go through the remaining images and mark the ones that I like the best. I look specifically for connection, expression, and realism of the pose. Of these images, I select what I think are the 10 best and I edit these removing skin blemishes, colour correction, and lightening and darkening selected areas. I may change the background to a more suitable tone for the simple reason that I currently don’t have a lot of backgrounds to choose from - it’s basically black/dark grey or a pinkish/skin tone for choice. If it is a location shoot then I go through all the backgrounds and removed all the distracting elements that move the viewer's eyes away from the subject. I may even totally replace the background if I believe there are too many distracting elements.
I have got this process down to approximately 30 minutes per image but in practice, I need to get to the stage of 15-20 minutes per image. Either way, it’s quite a bit of time but doing this allows me to create beautiful images that will provide many memories.
I haven’t even mentioned going through the equipment and making sure everything works and cleaning lenses and removing dust spots. Further, even though I regard myself as a professional, I still take the time to educate myself, practice and enroll in photography courses to improve my skills because I know that there is always room for improvement.
The work I do behind the lens is more than just pointing and shooting a camera, it’s a reflection of all the practice I’ve put in to perfect each and every moment.
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