I attend a few workshops each year in between doing my own thing in the studio as a mainstay and I’m sure that all of you who also attend these workshops come across a similar issue to me. This can be described as plagiarism / copying / inspiration / duplication / repetition / etc… (delete as applicable). So what can we do to alleviate this whilst still using these workshops that give us such great photo opportunities?

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”

Oscar Wilde

My approach is to try to do something different during the workshop although this can often attract the above issues if the other people like your ideas. To ‘stand out from the crowd’. I try to process them to as high a standard that I can, this will immediately lift your images above the average and should be a given really. Then I try to add some creativity to my processing by adding / removing features or placing the subject in a suitable scene. I’ll give some examples below…


Dancing in the moonlight.

In this image I have simply added some clouds and a moon to change the feel of the image and create a sense of mystery and maybe some depth to an otherwise standard dance pose shot against a plain backdrop.


Let me in at your window.

Here I have placed the subject behind a rusty window frame and added Victorian style lamppost. The image uses complimentary colours for impact and was inspired by a Kate Bush song.


Idol.

Simply converted to mono with a poster of Jimi Hendrix added to gave a ‘rock chick’ look to the shot


The wizard of a thousand dreams.

A Graham Currey character with added scene, including dark textures, a moon, some clouds and a scattering of snowflakes.


Dark Forces.

This was a fairly major re-write as a fellow photographer had just shot the same image that I had set-up. So, I took it to the next level adding all sorts of elements to create a more ‘original’ photo.

I do have many more but I think you get the gist of how I work. Why not start with something simple and give it a go…