My working style disturbs me a little. I had a shoot last night with Kamellia, and went into it with very little idea of how I was going to shoot it. I mean, I knew that I wanted to continue my Femme Elemental theme, but didn’t have anything specific in mind. Anyway, I just started out with some plain portraits, and then started fooling around with lights and close cropping. In the end, I shot about 60 photos, and got about 10 that I really like. Of those 10, there are about two or three that I could use for my show. It’s pretty efficient, I guess. The thing is, I wonder how much more effectively I could work if I had a better ability to preconceive these things. Or maybe it would get boring because I would just set it up, take one or two photos, and it would be done. Many of my best photos are the result of total accidents. They’re also usually the result of me being inspired in some way by the model. It’s a little disconcerting to me to be dependent on someone else for my art. But I guess because I focus so closely on the individuality of my subjects, it’s kind of necessary. Anyway, I guess I’m not terribly worried about it, but it has got me thinking. Jen’s style is completely different from mine. She has the idea meticulously planned in her head before she even starts looking for a model. I wonder if having her around, and working with her will change me at all.
Kamellia
by Kevin Thom | Jun 9, 2004 | 1 comment
well, not EVERYTHING needs to be planned out. Sure, it’s nice to plan things out in your head to see if MAYBE there might be something that could go wrong … or you might possibly need something you don’t normally have access to or whatever.
Sometimes things HAVE to be planned. I’ll refer you to Karsh, and his portraits that have to be set up and shot within a VERY limited time frame 😉
And too, sometimes planning something out WILL lead to other opportunities. I went out one night to shoot a specific scene I thought would turn out great. But it turned out I came across something else on the way home that I simply could not NOT shoot, and it’s one of my favorite photos. If I hadn’t planned to go out and all that, well, I simply would not have gotten the other shot.
What am I saying? I dunno…I forget now, lol … but don’t fret over YOUR style. I’ve seen your work, and believe me when I say, it ain’t sufferin’ one bit from your way of shooting! Keep doin’ what your doin’ … if it evolves into something else, then it was meant to be.