Photographing on location can sometimes be difficult, location,logistics weather, to name a few obstacles. So when you get a brief for a environmental portrait in the Welsh valleys and hills for a low level aviation photographer,edgy,wilderness,moody, immediately your thoughts turn to how do we get all the gear needed to the location, what time slot is viable for both parties and the wethear! Shooting the image is probably the easiest part of the process as you know all the gear and what settings are needed to produce the look you want, all of that can be controlled but the weather in the hills, that can't be controlled!
I believe that the current digital age we are in as photographs is nothing short of AWESOME! We have so many tools at our disposal, so many ways to achieve the finished product that the possibilities are endless, and this brings me to the hugely powerful tool which plays a big part in my work Photoshop. Having this tool and being able to know during the process of a photoshoot how it will be used to achieve the finished product helps me create a great workflow.
Now location wasn't possible this time so bringing the location to the studio so to speak is so much easier all round, using landscape images I have taken over many years ( I have collected a big catalogue of images now to use) I was able to create this scene using multiple images. Now the process in Photoshop took some time around 3 hours to create the final image which might sound like a long time but compared the time it would take to travel to and set up on location in the valleys this was definitely the way to go ! Although an environmental portrait in those locations would produce some pretty awesome portraits to.
So one point to writing this blog is really to get across the importance of using the tools you know to get the shot, it doesn't matter what those tools are as long as you know how they will help you finalise the image, remember there are no right or wrong ways just your way and that your individuality is what separates your image from others, showing two people the same techniques and asking them to shoot the same images would produce different looking images as it's what the individual brings to the table that makes a difference. So remember to IMAGINE the possibilitie, EXPLORE the techniques, and CREATE your vision!
Below is the behind the scenes video to the session in the studio and the speed retouch.