Photographing models

Model: Sallu F

I took advantage of the mild weather in November and contacted the model Sallu. He was the first model I photographed, but we had not worked together for about six months. Was he interested in doing another session with me? He was indeed and we met on a Sunday afternoon for a walk and stopped here  and there for a couple of shots as we strolled around.

Fashion shots is something unexplored in my case and I couldn’t resist the temptation to see if I could possibly do something that at least looked like an attempt. You can see the result above. Probably needless to say that I have looked at older Swedish Masters of Photographys’ production, mainly Georg Oddner and Hans Hammarskiöld, and got loads of inspiration from them. I like the way they treated the light and how their models posed. It all looked so natural and effortless.

Trends and fashions come and go and the same thing goes for fashion shots, but I think something like this would work today because it looks like we are going back to the style when both the model and the garments should be displayed at their best and I think it’s a good thing.

Model: Sallu F

I have probably mentioned it before, but portraiture is another thing I am interested in. This shot may not follow the golden rules of portraiture, but I like it anyway – much depending on his relaxed and natural smile. There are tons of pictures with false smiles on this earth giving the person/persons portrayed a very strange and sometimes not too flattering look.

An exaggerated smile usually pushes the cheeks up too high with the effect that the eyes look like two slots and the temples get loads of wrinkles. A more relaxed facial expression with a little smile or no smile at all is what I prefer. Why? Simply because a picture is supposed to show what a person looks like while a portrait should also tell something more, i e what he or she is like. That is why I don’t feel that a smile is necessary at all times.

There are other things that matter more. In my humble opinion, the eyes are important. They should either make contact with the camera or look somewhere else without making some kind of absent minded impression depending on the composition. Portraiture is a bit of a mystery but I find it very intresting. Besides, I enjoyed every minute of the session in Sallu’s good company.