This past September I had the privilege of photographing the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Having shot music events of various sizes over the past few years, I quickly recognized that this wasn’t going to be a typical “concert” by any means. It was a 2-day event, packed with 10 “A list” artists each night, performing anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes each. Fast paced and on a large scale, I knew from the outset that in order to “capture” the event in a cohesive and artful way I’d have to draw from all facets of my shooting experience and documentary style. Given that I had virtually unrestricted access to run around the arena and get the shots I wanted, the
Archives
Let There Be Light: Part 1
Join Jared Platt’s next free Lightroom Webinar from The Photo Life: Check the calendar and RSVP! At PartnerCon in San Diego, California, I gave a lecture called “Let There Be Light.” This lecture was an academic, aesthetic and philosophical discussion on light, what it means and how we use it to communicate. This was my opening slideshow. Stay tuned for more installments from the lecture in the weeks to come. A Quick Challenge By the way, I chose the song on this slideshow with care. Pay close attention to the resolution at the end, there is a hidden treasure in this song that is not only interesting trivia, but is sheer brilliance on the part of the musician, Kevin Burdick. “In Too Deep” is a
Creating EMOTION in your Boudoir Photography!
Written by Christa Meola, NYC Photographer Capturing emotion in my photographs has become my trademark, and I love sharing simple tips on how you can do this too! Creating emotion in your photographs is all about capturing authenticity, movement, sensuality and mood, not a pose that’s static where the subject is disconnected from the moment. Here are a few techniques to get you started… COACH ACTIONS For real women who have never professionally modeled before, it’s easier for her to be real and look natural when you offer her an action to perform instead of asking for a “pose.” An action such as “toss your hair, shake your booty, kick up your leg,” etc. looks more emotive then when someone’s just standing there wondering what
This Tip for Beating Manual-Phobia is Hilarious and Effective
When was the last time you read your equipments manuals? Have you ever? When I ask this question, all too often I hear photographers respond with, “I don’t read manuals, who has time for that?” Yet ignoring your manual can get you into pretty scary situations, like not knowing how to shut off the “timer” function on your camera when you accidentally turned it on. Reading this now, you’re probably saying, “Hey, old man, don’t lecture me, I know what I’m doing!” But do you really? I’m challenging you on this, because of the dozens of text messages I’ve received from photographers who were in the middle of shooting a wedding and had accidentally done this, and couldn’t figure out how to shut it off.
Learning Visual Vocabulary
It’s elementary: every sentence in a story needs a noun and a verb. The swimmer is swimming. The runner is running. The singer is singing. Those basic elements of sentence structure tell readers all the information they need to know. Yet readers yearn for more. They don’t just want to know the facts, they want to feel something. Consider these sentences: The swimmer swam, shivering in the shallow, inky water that glistened in bright moonlight. The runner ran, quivering through the last laps of the steamy summer marathon. The singer sang, crooning with the fierce fervor of a song bird. Suddenly, readers sense what the characters feel, see and experience. These sentences aren’t simply composed of nouns and verbs, they are peppered with adjectives. Words
People Without People
The tiniest things tell us the most about people. A locket on a bride’s bouquet contains a black-and-white photograph of her grandparents, a hand-stitched handkerchief is embroidered with a groom’s monogram, ornate hats are testaments to traditional British wedding culture. Seasoned photojournalist Alan Berner calls these details “people without people.” He explains, “For me it is the sense of people without them being there. It’s the part representing the whole. It’s the significant detail giving instant insight into the person, organization, the culture.” Sounds strange, but it’s a powerful concept. Details reveal key traits about people without actually showing them. These photographs are often tight, close-up shots that give our eyes a chance to linger longer on objects. As photographers, we have a responsibility to
The Value of an Image
“Photojournalism isn’t just an invitation to sit on the front row of global history, it’s also an invitation to sit on the front row of family history.” -Rachel LaCour Niesen, Intimate Invitations: The Photo that Changed My Career In the three weeks that I’ve been married, I’ve had the opportunity to remember our wedding ceremony through many conversations with family and friends. Without fail, in each and every one of those conversations I have been asked about my favorite part. While I loved each and every part of our wedding day (weekend really), there was one piece in particular that stood apart from the rest. We called it our “Unity Ceremony,” a time during our wedding where the communities that raised us came forward and
The Magic Bullet of Successful Wedding Photography
“Boy, I never knew I could look so good.” – Lisa Binder, Washington DC If you were to create a list of the various components for building a successful wedding photography business, you would most likely include things like great customer service, personality marketing, understanding your ideal client, great photography, recognizable style, and unique product offerings. Yet, there is one component—arguably the most important component—that probably wouldn’t make your list. It’s what I consider to be the “magic bullet” of wedding photography and the one thing that leads to more bookings, more sales, and more happy clients than anything else. Ironically, it’s also the trait that I find to be almost a lost art in today’s highly competitive wedding photography market! So what is it?
Facilitating Interaction in a Non-Creative Environment
Every once in a while you come across the perfect wedding day: the weather is favorable, the venue is elaborate, and the wedding party is the most photogenic group you have ever photographed. But all too often you come across a different scene: it’s the coldest day of the year, the venue’s most promising background is a brick wall, and the couple admits that they sometimes feel a little awkward in front of a camera. But, in BOTH of these situations they hired you for your creative work. How do you remain creative in a non-creative environment while at the same time ensuring that your couple feels and looks relaxed and natural in each frame? One way we do this is by focusing on facilitating
No Place Like Home
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T. S. Eliot Sometimes I have to wander far from home to understand what home means to me. The more I venture to far-flung destinations to photograph weddings and documentary projects, the more I realize that the beauty right in front of me is often the hardest to see. Photographing in a lush garden in Ireland, I smelled cut grass and remembered burying bare toes in my backyard as a child. My home represents belonging, rootedness and unconditional love. Home is my launchpad to the world. I recently spent some time with acclaimed war photographer Christopher Anderson,