I would like to share some of my photographs that I did half a year ago. This editorial photoshoot in berlin is one of the quick photoshoots in the studio and on the streets that I did in the middle of the last spring.
I did this photoshoot with model Bahia Sampers
As well as other posts, this one is also for educational purposes where I share how I make these images and what I think about them.
It’s good to look back at your work, re-edit your pictures and analyse them. If you don’t do that — try to find a way to actually come back to your work. Either publish it somewhere or make albums or print them in your own photo books. I do all of that.
How I started this photoshoot.
This is one of many editorial photoshoots that I did. Preparing for this editorial photoshoot in Berlin I decided to choose Neukölln since it’s an area with a lot of little cafes and restaurants on the streets. But in the end, the pictures I took were more minimalistic and didn’t contain any of the cafes. We started at my studio and did some simple shots. I actually had white background but then using the gradient map tool in photoshop I made it more greyish with a brown tone to make the pictures more atmospheric and vintage looking.
I have taken about 30 shots with this setup but won’t post more than a couple. It is always good to take more shots when needed. Since I’m continuing to work on my visual library and style, even after 9 years of doing photography I can see that most of my 6 months old photos are worse than my new works. To constantly improve at photography I would recommend watching good films, going to exhibitions and surrounding yourself with art.
It was interesting to take the shot above since I had to find the right balance between the background light and the foreground one. I had the same white background but used 2-speed lights with different colour filters. This shot isn’t special but I love to play with lights. I felt like these contrasting colours will add some colouristic aggression to this shot. Even if there’s nothing special in the shot and nowadays I would do more delicate work, I still feel like it’s a good picture.
Editorial photoshoot in Berlin on the streets
You have probably noticed that I really liked the shadow of the model in the two pictures above. I think shadows and silhouettes are great design tools that you can use as an artist. The design of shapes is what makes a photograph look good or bad. This is actually my primary tool for this editorial photoshoot.
Here the light is also a bit too harsh. But in editorial photography, it’s important to tell the story and if the story requires breaking the rules. It’s important to not stick to them (but only once you have learned them). As you can see, I used sunlight almost as a contour light and used a reflector from the opposite side. At the time I worked alone and had to shoot and keep the reflector at the same time. In this picture, I put the reflector too low. If you want to create uneasiness and maybe make a shot look even a bit creepy – do that. Otherwise, it’s better to put the lights a bit higher.
The shot above wasn’t as good in real life. When doing editorial photoshoots in Berlin and other cities I often get unpleasant details in the frames. Something odd like street signs or poles… That’s when photoshop comes in handy. Some people would say it’s less authentic that way and I would agree. But I do photography to convey my ideas through it. If an object distracts and makes a picture only worse, I try to cut it out. It’s a normal way to improve your photography composition. Everyone wants to have a private car but no one wants them to be on their portrait and editorial photoshoots. Although for the shot above I had to remove a building in the bottom right corner.
Editorial photoshoot in Berlin. The Golden Hour.
For this photograph, I had to take about 6 tries or even more. As I said before, shadows and shapes are my main artistic tools. Because of that, I like to take pictures about 2-1h before sunset when the shadows are big. I like how the outfit blended with the shadow and made the shot more elegant
A stranger seeing me struggling with the reflector came to help me and I’m really grateful for that. This shot could have been a lot worse without his help.
This scene was created in a usual yard and many more can be created there. When I did this editorial photoshoot in Berlin, we went through the area and had only a few places on the way that we had to visit. This shot I took in front of a playground. If you look at the area it doesn’t seem to be any special. I noticed that the contrast between the light in the foreground and the background is quite big and that allowed me to hide the playground in the darkness.
This shot interests me technically although I feel like the concept could be more complex. Still, I feel like doing a lot more works like the shots above. It’s a great way to train your composition and lighting techniques.
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Portrait photographer in Berlin – Fedor Vasilev
