Photographing People

So for my first blog post I wanted to go back to my roots, where I started to discover that my favourite subject to photograph is people. Why people in particular you ask. I believe that everyone has a story to tell, you can tell a lot about a person by the way they express themselves and I want to capture that in my photography.

If I’m going to talk about photographing people as a subject then I think it’s important to discuss my approach to photographing them and how it has changed over time.

Yes I’ve been taking photographs for as long as I can remember, but I still believe your always learning with photography because there’s always something new and exciting to try.

So I’m in college and it’s my first shoot with a model, and the nerves start to sink in, but I have my accessories and my magazines open at a wide variety of different poses for my model to try and I absolutely loved doing it.

So I’m a final university student and I’m doing my final year project on fashion photography and my model has a broken leg. This shoot was probably one of the most eye opening shoots I’ve ever had to do, how do I shoot my model without her legs. As I always say photography is about working with what you’ve got and using your imagination to think outside the box. If a model is still willing to pose for you while in a cast you work with that, put her in maxi dresses or long flowing skirts to hide it and take more close up shots cause the chances are you will still get something your happy with.

So what portraits have I done recently? The models are more studio based and organised as part of Preston Photographic Society, this is more up close and personal with the model, I have no magazines and no props just me, the model and a few other photographers. Your one on one with the model interacting with the model, directing the model and moving around to shoot her/him from different angles and the more of these shoots you do the more comfortable you become with talking to the model.

Now as well as doing more of these studio shoots I’m trying to branch out, looking for new and exciting people to model for me, I’m open to portraits, fashion, fitness and themed photography so if you would like something a bit out of the ordinary then ask me as I’m always happy to do something different.

Below is a gallery detailing my progression the first two shots are from when I was in college, the next two are from university and the final three are from recent studio shoots with Preston Photographic Society.

I hope you enjoyed my first post, be sure to follow me here or on my Facebook page Lucy And The Lens or on my Instagram @lucyandthelens to discover more.