One thing I’ve always enjoyed doing is shooting in a studio.
Many people don’t know that my beginnings as a photographer came from working in-studio. I helped manage a studio for one of Canada’s top natural light portrait photographers, while occasionally borrowing his space to shoot personal projects and experiment with light and studio shooting.
The mood in a studio couldn’t be any more different than capturing a wedding. I have full control over the mood of the entire shoot – from the lighting to the music to the interaction between myself and my subject. It’s a much more intimate and personal experience for both subject and photographer.
It’s all about making the subject comfortable with little more than your attitude and choice of words – the way you connect, which – while very similar to doing portraits on a wedding day – must now be done without any distractions or excitement of a wedding ceremony fast approaching or just finished.
It’s a MUCH different environment to work in.
Sometimes – usually in the middle of a busy wedding season, or directly after a busy stream of back-to-back weddings – I will sneak away to a studio space and shoot for fun. Sometimes it’s for a chance of pace. Other times there is no purpose in mind – just invite a friend or 2, bring a camera, good music, some food, then relax and have fun!
My friend and fellow photographer Nikki decided to join me on my last studio outing. I decided to slow things down a bit and shoot some film, mostly because I wanted to play with and test out a new lens I just grabbed for my film system. Since I plan on occasionally shooting with it at weddings this upcoming year, I figured this would be the best time to play around and learn its quirks – both good and bad!
This is one of the rolls I shot that day – complete from beginning to end. The time span from the first shot to the last is about 4 minutes – seemingly fast but much slower than the 10 frames per second my digital camera can shoot.
I feel that this series gives you an honest look at how fun (and hilarious!) Nikki can be!
Studio portrait sessions are making their way into my client offerings – full details are available by contacting me at the link above!
This year promises to bring many more fun studio sessions – for friends and clients alike!
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