Its Technical: Acting out. Sawidji Studio brings you ‘Its Technical’ Photography Blog. The world of Photography is so wonderfully diverse. As you know, the artistic heart in photography is vital at Sawidji. But quintessentially, photography is a marriage between art and science. Its Technical! are posts sharing with you the technical and theoretical aspects that we encounter within our works. We hope you enjoy!

Acting Out! Drama Just For Fun

In all genres of photography, it is a science of light and chemistry. Or light and photoshop. Whether you are still working in the darkroom or post processing everything online these days, light is at the centre of what we do. In the last post, looking at backlighting you can see how much a little change in your lighting technique will change the overall aesthetic and tone of your image.

One thing we mentioned in the last post, is that backlighting tends to add drama to your image, as well as creating increased illusion of depth between your object and your background. That’s a very technical aspect of our work.

As a result of last weeks’ exercise, we were inspired not just to add a little more studio lighting into a photo shoot, we were inspired to have a little more fun with some dramatic antics. It gave us an idea to have fun with. Our model Kadek made a great suggestion to explore the theme ‘horror/thriller’. With some face paint and a few white sheets we had a fun day in the studio doing this exercise. With minimal accessories we had some great results and a lot of fun as well.

Photography and Film

Photography has a familial bond with film. From studies done by pioneering photographers, studies into motion like that of Eadweard Muybridge, many frames of images connected together brought the advent of film.

The photograph is but a moment frozen ‘still’ whilst time rolls by. These stills, suggest a story. Letting your imagination free is as much a skill to practice as the technical aspects of photography. So imagining a scenario or a short film will work just as well to create a narrative through your photography.

Storytelling

There is a big trend at the moment with the catchphrase ‘storytelling’. This is such a trendy word to say in all forms of marketing and branding. ‘Tell your story!’

If you are developing your photography to speak a message, to tell a story of sorts, breaking down barriers by doing something entirely different and out of character is good. Drama and a little theatrics is a great way to explore your stories and to have fun with it as well.

Its Technical! Acting Out in Editing

Imagine your story and think about what key points there are in your timeline and do your storyboard. If you’re not having fun lately with your photography.. you should try this.

Don’t be shy about trying different editing styles. Post processing is a big area to explore and a big part of developing your creative vocabulary. Learning to edit for visually different tones can enhance your message considerably.

Acting Out! Different Characters and Narratives

Acting out a role and creating fictional environments and situations is a great way grow your staging and directing skills.

Acting is from the movies. You have to think about how to get into character, someone else’s’character. How best to give the message that you are not who you are..

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In life is probably not good to pretend,.. but inside the studio,,.. you can have fun with a little drama and theatre.

Creating a story, whether its fictional or representational requires some planning. But the chemistry that happens in an image when working with characterisations has a lot to do with the models that make up your team for the creative project.

They are at the centre of your story and your images. This part of a staged shoot is one of my favourite parts of the shoot. When they get excited and enjoy the exercise as much as you enjoy setting up and taking the photo means you are likely going to get your story told well.

Its Technical! Acting Out! is just highlighting that broadening your technical and theoretical skills in photography can be done in many ways. Including a comic horror session with some face paint. You don’t have to follow all the rules,.. perhaps this is an area that is good to break some rules. Act out! and get out of your comfort zone.. and perhaps this is where you find a passion for directing.

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See with Imagination

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