Last Spring I went to the Painted Hills, OR with a small group of photographers to shoot some new images for our portfolios. These are a few from my set. They are good examples of a current
trend in commercial photography and short videos: suggesting a mood rather than telling a clear story. The landscape, the colors and the key objects combine with the movement of the subject to originate tension and to create an image able to hold attention long enough to be remembered. However, the details of the story are best left to the viewer's imagination. Why is our hero running through a frame, holding a red bag filled with bread? Why is he carrying a camera? What role is the woman playing? The point I am trying to make with this image is.. he could be holding anything as long it is colorful or shaped in a way to immediately capture the attention of the viewer. The other clues (the camera, the old cowboy boots) just further enrich the image, without being too distracting. This is what a commercial client 'd ask from a set like this.
trend in commercial photography and short videos: suggesting a mood rather than telling a clear story. The landscape, the colors and the key objects combine with the movement of the subject to originate tension and to create an image able to hold attention long enough to be remembered. However, the details of the story are best left to the viewer's imagination. Why is our hero running through a frame, holding a red bag filled with bread? Why is he carrying a camera? What role is the woman playing? The point I am trying to make with this image is.. he could be holding anything as long it is colorful or shaped in a way to immediately capture the attention of the viewer. The other clues (the camera, the old cowboy boots) just further enrich the image, without being too distracting. This is what a commercial client 'd ask from a set like this.
The lighting is similar in all three images , a softbox to camera side, high and close to the subjects, scene cross lit with the sun. However the images look very different. In the first and second photos the flash overpowers the Sun. Coupled with some post processing that alters the original palette it creates a dreamier, more staged look. In the third image the flash is used only as fill, to give more of a structure to the floating vest. I noticed that often clients love the first set up and then ask you to 'tone it down' a bit to achieve the second. So it is good to show that one can create a range of images with the same tools.
