The posing trend.

When I shoot, either weddings, models, boudoir, kids or pretty much anything, I'm an advocate of capturing emotions.
You see, there's a trend to make people look perfect. Family members will stop a photographer to 'fix' the bride, to move the dress, to ask her to smile.
Truth is, the more people tell the bride or the groom what to do, the more confused they get.
They hired a photographer to make them look good, but their friends, family members or bystanders keep interrupting and giving them all sorts of advise. Most of it contradictory and confusing.
By the time we get to take a picture, the look in their faces is truly the look of confusion.
What happened with spontaneity?

Years ago, the trend was photojournalism. Although most people really didn't understand the concept 100%, there was a hunger for pictures that looked honest, non-posed, true to reality.

Hereby I ask:
What's of more value to people, A true emotion or a posed and daunted look?
I choose the first one.
Granted, a professional already thought of the basics of composition, light, technique and overall mood before he/she takes an image. But there's this element of intimacy that a couple has, that a true professional tries to bring out, instead of eliminating it with constant interruptions and posing. Some guidance is great. Telling people what to do every moment is not.

This is true even more with the flood of 'perfect' images that people pin in their pinterest walls, or gather through months of research.
People are so desperate to have those 'perfect' shots that they loose track of what matters the most:
Each couple is different. Their language and story is different. The photographer may not do the images you saw on pinterest. And... would you want to have the same images another 1500 photographers are doing on every wedding?
As photographers, we see the new trends and try to balance what couple's want with what we do.
The most amazing images I get from my weddings is when I have freedom to do what I feel like doing, just for that couple.

On the following image, the couple was getting ready for the 'official' image. They are not even looking at the camera.However, you can feel the emotion and excitement.

So here, some images that show true emotions, without been technically perfect. I value these more. And all were taken on the flight, just casually between other images one the list.

Love the true love these guys have in their eyes :)

 Often times, all it takes is to have the perfect setting. The rest just happens.

Going Guerrilla Style

From one of my Mini session calls in Facebook, I choose to work with a previous customer,
who not only is tough but also adventurous.
The idea was to start at sunrise. She actually had to be ready with hair and make up by sunrise...Ouch!
So we met at a coffee shop, she followed me to the previously scouted location, by a lake.

This is summer. full of bugs. I got ticks as I went through the woods to set up my lights. I guess when you have passion for something, you just don't care :)
It was hot, humid and we moved rather quick. All in all, we shoot for about 30- 40 minutes tops.
So, are you up for some of my Mini sessions? keep an eye on my FB page!

Guerrilla Boudoir

I met my model at Starbucks at 6:30am. We talked a bit about the plan for the day. Public Boudoir photography can be tricky. She was gutsy though. She even stopped to ask a police officer for directions to our shooting site. Gosh, she drove in the wrong direction in front of him!  I knew this was going to be good. Turned out that the site I originally selected was closed due to hunting season, so we had to improvise and headed to a different but nearby pleace. I unloaded my backpack with light stands and a medium sized, gridded softbox, battery and camera bag. Went ahead scouting for a nice area, with a couple of different options and textures for shooting.
I found nice trees, some rocks, fall leaves, a lake in the background. Yep, this was going to do nicely.

She had an amazing attitude. I love open minded models. I's so easy to bounce ideas back and forth. Little did I know that she actually has a degree on design. Well that explains a lot. She just was in sync with what I had in mind. Bonus points: She didn't mind a hike, bushes, rocks, branches.

I love using natural light. But I like to tweak it. So as usual, I had to carry a ton of gear, just to  make sure.
Within less than 90 minutes, we tried 6 outfits, a bunch of different looks and moods. All within a 100 yard radius and in a small public park. Just need to have an open mind, choose the right time and a head with lots of ideas!