On 4/27/2012 9:31 AM, David Savage wrote:
On 27 April 2012 22:21, Walt Gilbert<[email protected]> wrote:
On 4/27/2012 7:15 AM, Bruce Walker wrote:
On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 9:12 PM, Walt Gilbert<[email protected]> wrote:
On 4/26/2012 7:23 PM, Bruce Walker wrote:
Practicing my retouching. Getting quicker now ...
http://www.flickr.com/bruce_m_walker/7116760695/lightbox/
K20D, DA* 50-135/2.8 @ 50mm, f/8, 125th, ISO 100
Two Elinchrom BX500 RI strobes with 24” softboxes
Model: Katelin Popiel
--
-bmw
Rawrrrr indeed!
Great shot, Bruce!
I know a young lady who's the spitting image of that model, and I've been
pestering her to let me take photos of her for about a year now. She's
only
19 and gets hit on a lot by older men, so I figure that's the biggest
obstacle I have to overcome aside from the fact that I suspect she
doesn't
really know how serious a pursuit photography is for me.
Maybe in a couple of years.
-- Walt
Thank you!
Walt, my advice fwiw: don't expend energy trying to persuade reluctant
folks to sit for you. Once you discover that there are people who will
crawl over broken glass to have you photograph them, you'll forget all
about the reticent ones.
Even if you manage to sweet talk or bribe a reluctant or shy person
into posing, unless you are lucky (or very skilled) their discomfort,
even mild, will show in the pictures you get.
Put the word out through your family and friends that you're looking
for willing portraiture subjects, and that you'll give them shots in
return. Tell them to ask their friends and family. Mention that you
need help and practice -- people like to help.
Walt, what city are you in? I can do a quick search on Model Mayhem for
you.
Once you have a bit of a portfolio, show that to people. You'll get
more positive responses once you can actually show folks what you can
do.
--
-bmw
Thanks, Bruce -- for the advice and the offer to help out in finding models.
I'm in a bit of a sticky situation in that regard, living in a town of about
350 people, and the biggest town within reasonable driving distance being
about 35,000 (Paducah, Kentucky). Though, despite the lack of a big
population center, I don't really have that much trouble finding people to
pose for me. In fact, I constantly have people asking me if I'll take
pictures of their daughters/sons/grandkids, etc. The biggest challenge is
getting people to follow up after they ask me. I've come to the conclusion
that, for a lot of people, when they find out you're a photographer, they
just like to say things like that as a means of small-talk.
Normally, when someone asks me to do something like that, I stipulate that
I'm not by any means a pro photographer with a studio and lighting and
backdrops. At that point, they say, "Oh, I don't care about that! I'm sure
you'd do a great job!" Then, they never bother contacting me about it.
Which is really OK with me, to be honest. Whenever I try to talk someone
into posing for me (like the young lady I mentioned), I'm looking to take
very casual portraits. I manage to get decent results whenever I do it
completely impromptu -- even when they're shy or reluctant. I just try to
catch them in unguarded moments. (I'm not quite sure I'd be all that
comfortable in a formal "sitting" situation, myself.)
I guess my approach could be best described as getting someone to simply be
somewhere (or tell me where they're going to be), let them just do what they
do and be who they are, and tell them to just try to ignore me -- or at
least pretend I'm not there. That's why I like to shoot at gatherings and
events. I just love capturing candid moments, and I'm pretty good at putting
people at ease once I've had a chance to mingle and blend in.
Your comfort in working with people on "formal" shoots will only come
with practice. I used to be a nervous wreck, now, not so much.
I suggest instead of waiting for people to get in touch with you, you
get their details when they say they're interested& follow up.
DS
That's an excellent point, David. I can't argue with that.
I guess one of the reasons I've been reluctant to press the issue when
asked is the desire to manage expectations. There's a fine line between
"under-promise and over-deliver" and talking yourself out of the job.
I guess I'm just a little mortified at the thought of having someone
take a chunk out of their weekend only to end up with photos that don't
meet their expectations. I suppose I should probably have more
confidence than I do -- I do manage to get some decent shots in
difficult situations, after all.
But, I just don't have the level of confidence in my work that allows me
to say, "Be there on time, ready to shoot, and I'll give you some
pictures that'll make it worth your time and effort." Clearly, that's
something I need to work on.
-- Walt
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