OK, since composition is an area where most photographers get stumped, here is another post. Except this post will really get your creativity flowing. Mind you - it can be creative AND be well executed. Getting creative compositions in your photography is something that is learned. Its learned through practice and patience. Eventually, it may come easier to you.
In this post I’m going to share how I ended up with the image below. It’s creative. I think it’s rib tickling funny. I have no idea why. I am going to use this shot to show how to get creative with photography.
STEP 1: Keep in mind who you are shooting for while you are being creative and you will be a more successful photographer. A bride who wants the Cinderella dream images, would cry if you presented a batch of shots like this. Always keep your creativity in sync with your clients personality.
STEP 2: Working with what you’ve got. This shot was taken during a wind storm. Yes, weird but true. West Texas is ridden with wind and a lot of empty space and wind. There is always wind. Its part of the Abilene experience. lol.
This step in the creative process is looking at this situation through rose colored glasses. You could have any streak of ‘bad luck’ - ugly venue, bad weather, dead lawn, insane wind…And you have to try to figure out how to work with it while considering your subject.
On this day, the sky was awesome. It was pre-strom sky. No problem. Would have loved shooting with that in the background. The main problem was the wind was strong enough to knock the subject off balance. So her hair, veil, and even her gown were flipping around in the wind like a docked fish. Her hair was going totally wild and her veil actually blew away once and got caught in a tree. If this is her wedding day - she is going to be crying like a crazy person thinking there is no way you could get anything usable in conditions like this. A great photographer can. You can. That is where your creative brain comes in.
STEP 3: How to work with your surroundings. Ask yourself, how to make the wind work for me? The bride’s veil kept getting caught on everything around her. The wind was wildly pulling at it, and the rest of the time it was being whipped into something and stuck. So, how can you make a composition where the wind is good and a stuck veil is good? We are leaving normal shooting conditions and trains of thought behind. To get great shots on a day like this is going to take some creative thinking.
As I was looking around for interesting textures to place her with that might work with the wind, I noticed a patch of trees. They had silver bark in the weird storm sunlight. Their branches were twisted and gnarled. There was absolutely no doubt that if we wandered in there, the wind would get her stuck. The branches would pull at her veil and gown.
Which instantly reminded me of this:
Snow White is running through the woods. Which brings us to the next step.
Step 4: Familiar Scenes of Similar Situations (it can all be in your head and only your head - as long as YOU see it).
Its dark and cold and there are evil trees all around her. Branches are pulling her, her gown, and cape.
Looking back at my subject - would she like that kind of shot? YES. (I can answer this b/c I know them well enough to know which shots they like, their likes, and personality type).
OK, next question - How careful do I have to be with her gown and veil? Don’t have to be. This wasn’t a Trash the Dress session, but it wasn’t a keep the dress pristine session either. We had permission to man-handle the gown and veil a bit.
Step 5: How to NOT be a poser (copycat). Things that feel familiar - compositions, poses, layout, use of space and ground, even colors arranged in a way that is reminiscent of something else is part of what is a good composition. You do not have to re-invent the wheel to have good, solid, creative compositions. With posing, we copy the Old Masters. With lighting, we copy the Old Maters. Everyone thinks its normal and a good starting point to learn from the Old Masters - the Renaissance guys.
What photographer would say, “YOU POSER! How dare you copy Rembrandt lighting in your portrait!?!?” No one. That’s insane. Using components of others for inspiration, and solidly embedding that into something that feels familiar helps to evoke emotion. And isn’t that what good art is all about? Getting the viewer to respond emotionally to your image?
Step 6: Let’s Get Physical. (Did a song with big 80’s hair and legwarmers just pop into your head? Good, then you are getting the idea). The next step in the creative process is physical - you’re shooting, you’re making the client stand there - you go stand there. See what they see. Look around. Check angles, examine the light, and the interplay of textures. See if it still reminds you of the scene you had in your head, the emotion of the moment, and the emotion you want to capture.
Step 7: Loyalty. Then you need to decide who to be loyal to. Do you want to be true to Snow White or your subject? Or a little of both? That may sound dumb, but it greatly affects your results.
As I was standing in this little clearing of trees, I saw the Snow White scene perfectly. The layered textures were perfect. The darkness and her gold gown. It all worked well together. Normally I don’t just take one idea and run with it. I usually want another theme and intertwine them.
And ongoing theme I LOVE with bridal photography is placing the beautiful young bride with something old and ugly. The contrast is dramatic. Then I add the dramatic lighting - more contrast. For this shot, I was a little stuck. I didn’t want dramatic lighting - I wanted the texture of the branches and not total fall off around the subject. What to do???
While we placed the subject in the clearing and gently placed her veil into the branches of the trees, the wind nearly blew her over. I was counting on the wind to make the shot look real. I had been playing with the idea of Medusa hair made of the branches behind her or something very fairytale-ish, but not cute. Ya know - the contrast. B/t young and old, beautiful and ugly, hopeful and hopeless - I didn’t have all my stuff together yet as I starting thinking about how and where to take the shot.
And then, in that second the wind blew much harder than expected, I saw my shot. It was The Scream meets Snow White. I saw how I would process it after, how the textures would play out.
Basically, it was playing off of the idea of poor young beautiful maiden, lost in the evil woods, scared for her life. The Scream is ugly, Snow White is beautiful.
The textures in the woods and the flow of the painting strokes in The Scream influenced the post processing (PP). The branches were sharp and threatening, the painting strokes in the Scream are flowing and contrast-ie in color - using opposites (blues and oranges) it creates its tension.
I snapped another shot of the wooded area without the subject in it. I would overlay it later to create more depth and texture.
Here is the unprocessed shot. I like the look of the pillars in the background - they remind me of a haunted house. Haunted houses in woods meshes with the idea.
Step 8: Post Processing. The choices we have for PP images in nuts. The PP can lend to the theme/ idea you started with or derail it - so be thoughtful of what you are doing.
During the PP, I did the same thing - used ideas from the Scream and Snow White. The texture of the forest was repeated in long flowing black lines up to the gown. The subject is framed within the shot similar to the Scream - kinda centered, but off to one side.
The overall composition has strong lines and subtle branches pulling at her - like Snow White in the woods. During PP, I had to decide what to do with her veil. When I put a slight glower on it - it looked more like a ghost and less like a veil. I decided that a ghost works, and made it more ghostly.
The basic premise that I use for creative compositions is almost always evocative of something else. The images where the theme becomes more pronounced, tend to be more cohesive. People also tend to look at work longer, trying to recall what it is reminiscent of.
When you can tap into what they were doing when they saw Snow White or the Scream (even if it was Homer’s scream - a pop knock off), you tapped into your viewer at a very personal level. I LOVE it when a shot can play on that many levels to it’s audience.
The final version of this one shot is seen here. This is what I saw when we started. It progressed into a portrait, rather than a landscape, and I made it more frightening in a Mickey Mouse kinda way. :o) Which is totally me. Boo-yah!
Now you all know why we show such a limited number of proofs to our clients. Each shot we take has this level of intentionality. It takes time, creativity, and patience. And this is only one aspect of the many things that goes into a great shot. You can read the other tutorial on composition. That is about focal point and flow.
When you use all your senses to shoot, you end up with much more evocative images. When your clients can relate to the images of strangers, you have a much easier time selling them your services.
On a personal note - I haven’t had so much fun shooting a creative shot it forever. The woman in this shot isn’t your typically froofy-fu girl. She doesnt like ribbons and bows. She has an intensity to her that is somewhat melancholy and passionate at the same time.
Understanding your client’s gives you the ability to NOT do the cookie cutter photographer thing. There is no reason to. Creativity in photography is only limited by your imagination.
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