Photographer
Text Translation Katerina
Using the title of your article as a starting point I would state that outdoor photograph is in fact, a very interesting sector of photography since it presents a lot of challenges for the artist, Nevertheless, it is a really creative form of art and if you possess a fair amount of imagination and the ability to find beautiful places, you will, surely, be able to give your pictures a particular dimension. In the following text I will talk about some of the things one should keep in mind while shooting outdoors.
First of all, you should prepare your equipment beforehand. Short out what you need to take and what not, tο avoid carrying extra, unnecessary burden. It is crucial to keep your equipment safe inside a camera bag. Once the equipment is shorted, the next step is to decide on a place and a concept e.g: shooting on the seaside, on the mountains or choosing to focus your attention on old buildings in the city.
A very important factor is the weather as well as well as finding the right model and the right clothes to fit the overall atmosphere of your place of choice. A photographer should always keep in mind that each picture tells a story that aims to appeal to the public’s deeper emotions.
Once you have dealt with all the above, it’s time to prepare the lights that you need to take with you. You can either take the more common and affordable speed lights or flashlights which are more reliable but also expensive since you need to have a generator in order to operate them. Working outdoors comes with all sorts of limitations. The sun light, for example, can countervail the camera flash which is a difficult situation to handle. But we, as Greeks, always have some tricks up our sleeves and I am sure each one of you can find your own with the right amount of patience and resourcefulness. Now, the best time to take a picture it’s when it’s cloudy since that way the sky creates an immense soft box that blocks the appearance of shadows.
Once you have completed all the necessary preparations concerning the equipment and the location, it’s high time to find the right model, the suitable person, to fit with the project you work on. It’s essential to set the rules beforehand, your model should be aware of how the process works and be willing to follow your instructions without objections since the goal is to showcase your personal style of work.
Last but not least, you should take into consideration the composition. Composition is the element that provides your pictures with substance and leads to the desirable end result which is to narrate a story. Therefore, whatever it is in your frame should not hide but give prominence to your model, should embrace him/her in a way that creates a sense of dependence and harmony. In order to achieve all the above, the colors as well as geometrical patterns that fill the spaces around you should play an important part. But the most important thing is to never stop experimenting and to be extra meticulous about details.
Our photography session took place in Plaka, in the centre of Athens, with Maria Markou as our model and the valuable help of our make-up artist Elena Brownsugar. I, sincerely, hope that you will find this outdoor photo shoot of a female portrait inspirational
I wish you will all stay healthy, optimistic and creative!
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