Over the past few weeks my son and I have been planning out a portrait session that I have dubbed “The Crow.” With my help, Colin wanted to create a set of portraits that were a tribute to the comic as well as the movie “The Crow.” A session I knew that would challenge my creative as well as my technological side of my photography in order to achieve the look and feel that both of use were striving for. This wasn’t going to be simple by any means. On my end I needed to scout for locations and the best time to shoot. I also had to build on new skills taking what I know and applying it to what I think will work, then trying it out. Lets not forget about the editing side of this equation. I have not done a lot with some of the editing techniques that would be needed in order to achieve the look we wanted. This was going to be a growing experience in my photography and I was determined to be successful.
For those who may not know the story of “The Crow;” It centers around social justice. The main character walks in on his fiance being beaten and raped and before he could do anything, he is killed. The legend is that a crow carries the soul of the dead to the next place, but sometimes when a person has been so wronged and it must be corrected, the crow will bring the soul back to make it right. Well that is the version of the story from the movie.
As we sat around and planned the shoot, we knew that the images had to be gritty, dark and have the cinematic look to it in order to be successful. This meant that not only did Colin have the look down but I had to find places that complemented our narrative. For our town that isn’t easy due to the older buildings and allies are getting cleaned up or eliminated altogether. Non the less I found an ally that was a tight squeeze as well as gritty and dark. Once we finished the levitation photos we moved on to that spot.
We arrived to the ally the shoot became so easy. The walls were beyond worn, the floor was wet and with one speedlight on a boom the light was perfect. All I had to do is get things set up and Colin did the rest by looking the part. The ally went so well that most of the shoot happened there than any of the spots we chose. And why not? It was perfect. We finished up and moved to the park where we got a few images created before the rain started to fall.
I really enjoyed this session not just because I got to photograph my son, because I got to plan and create images rather than shooting a setting. It is nothing to take portraits the same way with every person you photograph, but it is such a pleasure working someone who wants something different. Now this was a cosplay theme session but the principles used in that setting can be applied to the family, senior and other types of session. By talking to your photographer, talking about what you would like and don’t like, even exploring a theme to your shoot could give you portraits you can’t wait to put up on your walls.
Again I had a great time and so did Colin. I hope you enjoy and are as excited about these images as I am. I also hope this will inspire you to think about the possibilities you would like to explore with your next portrait session and when your ready, feel free to call, I would love to work with you. And feel free to share the link to someone you think would love these images or concept.
