No Bridezillas Here!

This past Monday I had my first experience working with models during my wedding photography class at the Minneapolis Photo Center. It was sort-of what I expected, but not completely. I went into the experience a little nervous, but relieved that there would be so many other students there to take the pressure off of me. If I didn’t know what I wanted the models to do, at least someone else would be there to give direction.

What I found is that (1) I really need to think ahead more and have some poses in mind before going into a shoot, (2) models are really nice people (at least these models were) who aren’t going to laugh at me if I want to try a pose a certain way and (3) there’s nothing scary about shooting posed people. I was also reminded about the importance of getting the lighting right; I should always be looking for shadows and glare and adjusting to make the photo more appealing.

I also took this opportunity to play with my exposure a bit and to try out high key shots and white-on-white shots. Some of these experimental shots were successes and some were failures (I won’t be showing the failures, sorry!), but I definitely learned a lot by trying different approaches. It’s reminded me that I need to experiment more in my everyday shooting, not just when I’m in a class or in a studio.

In the end I think I got some really great shots and I’m very happy with my final product. I’m now really looking forward to taking the fashion photography class and learning more about posing and working in the studio. As for weddings, I’m not sure I’m ready to take on a whole wedding at once yet. I think it would be a lot of fun to assist as a second shooter at a wedding. The pressure is off a bit that way, and I’ll get a chance to learn and grow as a photographer, while still capturing some beautiful memories in the process.