Afternoon

Having a thorough technical understanding of photography is a good foundation for working in the business, F-stops, apertures, ISO, Guide Numbers, it might sound like gobbledegook but unless you know that stuff you’ll never really take your photography to the next level.

There is a lot on the web about how the technical aspects of photography must be followed to get a good shot, and to some extent that is true, but there comes a point when you just have to say, stop, hang on a minute, that photo is “technically perfect” correctly exposed, sharp, rule of thirds etc, but…there is something missing.

That “something missing” bit is the most important ingredient for making a good photograph into a great photograph, the creative input of the photographer, the thinking outside the box, breaking all the rules

I was on a shoot recently photographing models in wedding gowns, for a wedding gown  supplier, pretty boring, but steady work. Towards the end of the shoot one of the models walked across a window and I noticed the sun streaming behind her, so I thought, lets see what that looks like.

The model was happy to “do her thing” in front of the window while I shot without my lens hood on (to accentuate the flare) and shot from a lower viewpoint to get the sun directly in the frame (whilst minding sure my eyeballs were not scorched to a cinder!!)

The purists amongst you will say the resulting image is a little soft, lacks a bit of contrast, has waaaay too much flare – and you’re right – but it’s a pretty darn good image, I love it, the model adores it and the client even asked for a copy!

Obviously I wouldn’t shoot ALL my work like this, but every now and then you just gotta break the rules.

best – Colin