Practical Photography - UK (2020-01)

t

herearecertain

pointsin yourphotographic

jo urneywhenit’stimeto stop

and takestockof whereyou

are.Sometimesyouwillhit

a bumpin theroadandfind

yourselfwonderingif you’removing

aheadatall.Youmightlookatother

people’simagesandwonderwhy they’ve

got thatcertain‘something’thatyoursare

la cking– technicallyyou’reon a parwith

them,butwhatmakestheirshotsbetter

thanyours?

Keepingcontextin mind

Wehavea lotof imagessentin to us atthe

magazine.Onethatstoodoutrecentlywas

a brilliantlyexecutedshotof a mountain

bi ker,takenon a beachatgoldenhour,just

asthesunwassetting.thephotographer

had usedjusttherightamountof fill-in

flashto pickhissubjectoutfromthe

background,andthelateeveningtones

gavetheimagea beautifulgoldenglow.

technicallyit wasspoton – thecamera

settingswerenailedandthefocuswas

ta ck-sha r p.andyet,forall this,it just

di dn’twork.Simplyput,therewasno

contextto theshot– thebikerwas

st ock-stillandappearedto be ridingoutof

the sea,whichlackedactionandmadeno

sense.therewasno storyto theimage.

Cr eatinga narrative

as a photographeryoupresentimagesof

the worldas youseeit. Sometimesyouare

intotalcontrolof thenarrative,suchas

when youtakea portraitof a modelin

a st udio,andat

ot hertimesyou

haveto workin a more

collaborativeanduncontrolledway,

li kewhenyouwaiton locationforthe

ri ghttypeof lightto fallon a landscape.

thepointshouldbe to tella storywith

everyshotyoutake.if you keepcertain

watchwordsin yourheadandapplyas

manyof themas youcaneverytime

you go outto shoot,youwillseea vast

improvementin yourwork.

contextis vital– whatis it thatyou’re

tryingto convey?think of everyshotyou

takein termsof threefactors– itsmood,

emotionandimpact.Yourimagesshould

havetheabilityto transportyourviewer

andelicitan emotiveresponse.Youare

a vi sualstory-teller,andif youkeepthat

Creatinga bodyof workwitha clear

narrativestyleanda cohesivecontext

toev eryimage requires some essential

groundwork. Those starting out in

photography tend to shoot a lot of

imagesand proudly keep all the best

ones.Theproblem with this approach

is th atit results in a very muddled

collectionof work that lacks direction.

Onceyouhavearound30-50imagesthat

yo u’rehappywith,it’sgoodpracticeto

edit them down to a portfolio of about 12.

Try to ensure that there’s a theme to the

selected shots and discard any that don’t

adhere to that vision. It’s perfectly ok to

have several portfolios covering different

themes, but narrowing the field like this

will streamline your future shoots.

build a cohesive portfolio

tell a story

with your shots

tips&advice

36 PracticalPhOtOgraPhY

tip

keepthe

context

Oneof the most effective

waysto tella storyis with an

environmentalportrait,

wherea recognisable

locationis key.

2

FXQuadro

Jorge Perez