This past week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the course I want to take this coming year in regards to the style of photography I put out. Mahroo and I went out to Panera today and as she ate her soup and sandwich, I tried finishing up my brownie ice cream from the Cold Stone next door. We went out to lunch to have a meeting about all the thoughts that have been running around our minds for the past few days. A lot of great ideas came out – from business aspects to envisioning goals. The part that was most important to me was the discussion on actual shooting style.
In recent projects I have started to add a hint of an editorial fashion style to bridal and couple portraiture. One of my most favorite fashion portraiture books is Something Beautiful by Zhang Jingna. Her work just blows my mind and considering she is a few years younger than me, I can’t help but be humbled. Everyone has a “someone” they aspire to perform like in their art or work. While her style is not exactly what I’m looking to develop, her level of creativity, masterful execution, and clarity of vision are just some of the things I want to work towards. If there has ever been any photographer who impresses me every time, it is Zhang.
I have been going over a couple of other portraiture books that I have found intriguing in regards to ideas and approaches to composition: Vanity Fair: The Portraits and People in Vogue: A Century of Portraits are two useful books showcasing a wide variety of portfolio material from some of the most successful fashion photographers. Some of the work is graphical and not family friendly or useable for wedding photography. However, there are some compositions that are gorgeously classy and truly beautiful. Some of the pictures leave you scratching your head thinking “really? this is supposed to be top notch?”, but then some of it leaves you thinking “WOW”.
So, this coming season I’m bringing it and bringing it hard – deeper thoughts, clearer compositions, and bigger lights. All in the effort to continuously be creative and to never stop learning. Growth. Progress. Development. I feel inspired.
by S2S
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