What do all of these guys have in common?
Well 90% of you will recognise the first name on that trio, and if you don't shame on you (tutt tutt tutt)
The reason I mention them is because they are all great directors. They communicate to their team effectively what their vision is. I have always liked the role a director plays in both theatre and film, because to me a director has to be inspirational, engaging, intelegent, creative, open minded, descriptive and above all a director has to collaborate. I love photographing creative people because they always have werid and wonderful ideas. I love how their brain works because some of my favourite pictures were inspired or generated as a result of my experiences and the suggestions of those whom I am photographing.
Quite recently, I got the chance to photograph a collegue of mine who i've recently discovered is a very talented singer. After seeing the images I posted on facebook and instagram from my previous shoot with Kiara, Angela (pictured below) thought it would be a great chance to collaborate, as she had a song coming out very soon which she needed some images for. I love working with new people so I was very excited to see what images we would be able to colaboratively create. I mentioned to Angela to send me examples of images she would like to create so I could get a good idea of what she is looking for, I find this really helps identify the mood and overall vision the client has early on in the relationship. The better I understand what the people I photograph want the easier it will be for the both of us to come up with ideas because we are booth thinking along the same lines and can collaborate smoothly.
All the images shown above were taken at Angela's house and were taken a few feet apart but because we walked around and could plan what we could use it meant that we got everything done within 3-4 hours from my arrival to me leaving. When I was starting out in doing portraiture, I would find one location or a solid white wall and stick to it as much as I could because I didn't know how to utilise the resources around me. I really love shooting outdoors (except when it is raining, which unfortunately in england is 80% of the time) because I can simply walk around and be able to find at least 5 places to shoot with a client each location being 1-2 minutes walking distance from the last, and still be able to create really great images.
Uzo Oleh who is a good friend of mine (and an amazing photographer) talked about "TAKING a picture and MAKING a picture" and I am now realising just how great his advice was in clarifying what the difference is. I realised that I was making a picture with Angela when I was walking around with her and we were discussing what type of cloths, props and look we wanted to create at which location. I am now at a point where I can start to imagine what the final image will look like before I even pick up my camera, because when you start to compose the image in your mind then I find you have a lot of control, because when you bring the viewfinder up to your eye, you become very aware of everything in the frame. The more aware of your composition you are the more you have to direct, and so this is where your communication and descriptive skills come in to effect.
I hope you liked the images, and please feel free to ask any questions about how each image was created and if you want to check out Angela's work then click here
Thank you :D