I spend a lot of my time shooting people and I truly enjoy it. For those of you who have hired me to shoot an event, you know this to be true (check out my blog post on event photography). But the geek in me loves a good architectural or product shoot. These jobs are about two of my favorite things (no, not food and wine…although they’re often about those too); branding and detail. I’m able to approach a job with a business mind. Who is my client’s target market? What will this image say to that target market? When I’m on the job, I can often spend ten times the length of a head shot setting up a single product shot. People don’t like to wait. As a matter of fact, they normally don’t photograph as well when they have to wait. But product will wait for you forever. I look at lines and subtlety of light. Does everything line up perfectly? Can I light the scene to remove that shadow? These small details can make a big difference in your image. While I always do my best to deliver the best possible image, there are some things you […]
Today, I hope to introduce you to a new, fancy photographer’s term. The famous (or infamous) grip-and-grin photo. When planning to photograph a corporate event, I’ll always ask my event planner whether they want candid photos, grip-and-grins or a mixture of both. If this is the first time we’ve worked together, they’ll often not know the difference between the two. So let’s start there. Candid event photography helps to tell the story of your event. When taking candid photos, I normally stand further away from my subject and photograph them interacting naturally. The subject should not know they are being photographed. In order to be great at candid photography, you’ve got to be patient and observant. You’ve got to study your subject and know when something interesting is just about to happen. Then you’ve got to capture the moment at just the right time. I’ve always thought my background in event planning has made me better at candid photography. I’ve been studying guests at special events for decades! Grip-and-grin photos (or more formally called posed photos) are the exact opposite of candid images. Posed photos require the photographer to approach the guests and ask if they would like […]
