Working in the creative industry, we tend to get hung up on shooting a certain way. The main reason is that clients often have a specific idea in mind for a shoot. However, if you give yourself some freedom with styled shoots and experiment a little, you may end up with a unique shoot that's totally outside the box. Here are some ideas to ignite your creative spirit and improve your photoshoot.
Backgrounds and foregrounds
The use of interesting or dynamic backgrounds and textured foregrounds allows your audience to see more than just the subject and intrigue them with a new perspective. Start working with subjects that you are familiar with and shoot the same way you usually do to start. Start experimenting with new angles and bringing props such as leaves, ropes, mirrors, glass, etc... up close to the camera to get a sense of texture in your foreground. Changing backgrounds isn't the most challenging thing in the world, however, finding the one that fits a particular shoot may be somewhat challenging. Sometimes just visiting your neighborhood at different times of the day or looking for backdrops that add layers to your shoot will increase the interest and mood...
Up top and down low
Please proceed with caution when working in some of these situations. Things you might find useful when experimenting with high shots and low shots include stepping stools, ladders, rugs, tilt-shift lenses, and even gimbals if you don't like getting too low to the ground. Focus on your subject while dropping yourself as low as possible. Work with new lenses and angles to get longer legs or body and have them reach to really accentuate the perspective of the image. Break out the stepping stool to push your viewer higher and have them feel what it looks like above the action rather than right in the middle of it all. Even adding something as simple as the distance to your shot can make a huge difference to your spectator.
Using objects and props as creative tools
While there's nothing wrong with working with just the model in a studio, sometimes it's fun to work with props and create a scene around the model to develop a story with your images. Using things such as vehicles and bicycles or ripping a hole through packing paper and shooting through that space can change the whole look of a shoot. When they view your shoots or editorials it's always nice to see experimentation being applied and giving them the opportunity to see your work in a different way.
Using one of these strategies when shooting your next creative session will spice up your feed and have people asking for more.
So go ahead, try one or all of them and let us know how you make out or if you have some ideas you would like to share with the creative community, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram @creators_mag!
Keep on creating!
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Written by: Mathieu Roy
Head of Marketing at Creators Magazine
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