Being an Editorial and Fashion photographer is difficult during this time as social distancing is very important and we can’t have contact with others. I met Wilfred when I was out in Leeds, made friends with him and planned to shoot for another project before isolation struck. After seeing many photographers I follow doing photoshoots over FaceTime, so yesterday I thought I’d give it a try to spark some motivation and create new content.
It challenged my communication skills as I had to guide my model and direct him on where to place the phone as well as posing. I like simple, organic photo shoots where I capture people in their natural state. When shooting with models my aim is to have some of their personality come out in the shots. To warm up I allow them to pose however they feel comfortable, as this builds trust between me and the model. The overall photo shoot only lasted for 25 – 30 minutes, it was really fun and nice to work with another person again. Although the backdrop / background couldn’t be altered due to a small amount of space, but I like the natural poses and simplistic aesthetic.
EDITS
When editing I began just playing around with the colour palette, mahogany and browns to make his complexion pop. However it ended up muting the background making look dull, which wasn’t my intention. I tried the monochrome tones and loved the aesthetic, especially how it complimented his skin tone. In order to focus on Wilfred I cropped, edited out the background as best as I could ; using the clone tool to get rid of objects that would naturally change our focus. Some photos were naturally overexposed but using the quick selection tool and exposure setting in adjustments I managed to bring in some mid tones. As an experiment I really like the outcome considering it was shot over FaceTime, it was a challenge but a successful one!
EllaMaeWardpp1 