Recently at a camera club shoot where we had invited a local ‘celebrity’ to sit for us there was an opportunity to be the subject rather than the photographer. There tends to be a degree of sitting around waiting for your turn with the sitter on these occasions so what do you do with the time.
On this occasion a colleague, Gary Williamson, had brought a backdrop, single light and stand and was offering to take portraits of the other club members. Most people didn’t want to sit but I thought ‘why not?’ and had a series of simple head shots taken. I have chosen the one below as my preferred image, it’s hard to say favourite!
But let’s get this straight – I am not a model and do not see a new opportunity here. Maybe the photos could be used to keep the kids away from the fireplace !
A new Perspective.
Being the sitter rather than the photographer gives a whole new perspective to a studio shoot and I strongly recommend all photographers should try it. Not necessarily for the ensuing photos but for the experience and getting a feeling for what it is like to be photographed. It will give an insight into the way the dialogue changes from the other side of the camera.
I tend to be fairly vocal when photographing people, tweaking poses and shapes as I go to try to get the shot that I want. So, it was interesting to be on the receiving end of direction and I quickly realised that I couldn’t tell what was being taken from this new position. This brought home the importance of sharing the back of camera to my sitters so that they could see what was being produced to keep them fully in the loop of the creative process.
Gary has a style of his own and I have let him have full control over the edit and style which isn’t too far from my own preferences. His work can be found on Instagram under the name of Swirly Magnolia.