I’m no “Strobist”

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:00:49 +0000

I’m no “Strobist”, “DIYphotography”, “ChaseJarvis” , or “Joe Mcnally“, but I still may have a few things to say about regarding what it takes to be a commercial photographer and/or developing your style.
Since I might be considered a “portraitist” more than anything else, I feel like talking about what it takes to make more than just a technically correct portrait.You can have a correctly exposed image with no soul. All histograms aside, if you can’t pull some emotion out of a subject, or even a professional model, then it’s just another image out there amongst the milieu with no compellingness or life.
First and foremost a photographer is a Director trying to get an Academy Award worthy performance out of a subject. In my mind I assume all liability for pulling “something” out of my subject, and I try to approach it with the utmost focus, although focus and seriousness are two different things. Certainly making someone who cringes when you point a lens at them , get past that is something of a learned art, but it can be learned.
Anyone who knows me knows that I like to keep things light and crack jokes while I’m shooting, and maybe appear like a very simple person, maybe even a futz. It is all part of my game plan to disarm and charm.
Another simple but effective tool is to learn everything you can about your subject before you even shoot them. If I’m photographing a celebrity, I learn every teeny-weeny tidbit of information I can glean about them , including their birthplace. It’s amazing how you can draw someone out of their shell just by asking who their favorite band is or what kind of music they like. You have to distract them for a while until they realize it’s not so bad doing a photo-shoot. Most of us were shamed when we had our picture taken when we were young, so there is a lot of ground to take back.
The one caveat I want to issue is that people can smell insincerity a mile away, so it does have to be an integral part of your personality, this interest in them. I have not always been this way, but it’s something that you can grow into until it’s an unconscious reflex. I guess you could call it being “otherly”, and there aren’t many out there who practice this philosophy in our culture let alone in my profession.

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admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:12:22 +0000

Living History Project (ongoing)

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Mo Collins (Mad Tv)

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admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:34:29 +0000

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Auvergne, France

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admin — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:57:43 +0000

Mozambique Orphanage

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admin — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:51:09 +0000

Patrick Rogers Photographer