More Practice, Imgenomic Realgrain and Hoodman Loupe

As an advertising photographer, very often much of the format of an image I’m assigned to shoot is already decided before it gets to me.  Of course, I get to add my creative input, which in part is why I’m being hired as long as it conforms to the message and shape of the assignment.  When I go out and practice, I get to explore more freely.

I just got back from a location scout, where I found six wonderful spots to shoot at one location.  So the scout was successful, and along the way I got to practice.  I took my time exploring the location and watched the light.  I also took pictures both of the spots I might later use plus interesting subjects for myself.  Since, I did not have the pressure of a client looking over my shoulder or an expensive model standing in front of the camera, I could experiment.  If one of my experiments didn’t turn out exactly as I expected, no harm was done.  I also shot subjects that I like that would not normally be subject matter for my advertising photography assignments.

Boot-1

I used Imagenomic’s realgrain to help give the image a more natural gritty look.

I took along a budding photographer as an extra set of eyes. I had the time to explain some of the processes I was going through which both helped the photographer and reminded me of alternative ways of handling subjects.  I also had a person as a scale to put in the location shots so I had a better idea how a person could interact with the location.  It is hard to see the image playback on the screen in bright sun, so I introduced the photographer to the Hoodman Loupe.  Plus we discussed the value of using the histogram rather than the screen to check exposure.

As Kim Weston, once said to me “all we do is a craft; it’s a craft and if you don’t know your craft…there are no shortcuts.”