Capturing the Beauty of Summer Through Photography
“An Ode to Summer” is my latest photo shoot I did in May 2013. The idea of this photo shoot was to show the warmth of the summer. I wanted to juxtapose the warm sunlight, the beauty of nature, and a pretty girl. There is no complicated or philosophical theme as it can be found in my previous photo shoots. I just wanted to present the beauty through the pictures, and let the viewers enjoy the picture as they are, without having to think hard about the meanings behind them. I have to admit that doing this type of photography work is refreshing, as I found that this type of photo shoot was more like to be an activity to have fun. Thus, I would like to share some of the photos through this lens, and hopefully you like them.
The Preparation
I didn’t prepare too much for the concept of the photo shoot, as I just want to create beautiful photos without any complicated story or themes. I just went online and browsed some references from professional photographers. I also met the model, Sunny, two days before the shoot. She is a very nice and smart Chinese girl. Sunny studies B.Com in my undergraduate college and I know her through my Bhutanese friends, whom I worked in previous photo shoots.
The idea of the photo shoot and the name of the model (Sunny) suited very well. Somehow, working with Sunny was very fun. I told her about my plan and she gave a lot of idea for the photo shoot. She acted not only as a model, but also as a director, style designer, and she tried to see the concept from the photographer’s point of view. If you find a model who is able to do this kind of things, then you are very lucky as working with the model would be more fun.
An early morning summer day
I departed from my apartment at 4 o’clock in the morning and we started the photo shoot exactly at 5 AM. The location of the photo shoot is at Hussain Sagar Lake, the biggest and most beautiful artificial lake in Hyderabad. We decided to do it in the southern park of the lake, where there is a beautiful park with pretty trees and flower.
Unfortunately, we missed the sunrise. However, the sun rays was perfect for photography. It was very soft and made everything looked shiny. I took some photos near the beautiful tree, with the beautiful lake in the background. The model seemed to enjoy the photo shoot very much, and it made me feel comfortable to work with her. We took about one hundred photos in two hours, then decided to take a break. We worked for another one more hour, then decided to call it a day because the temperature started to raise and made us sweating.
After the photo shoot, we had breakfast at McDonald (we had to wait for about an hour because it was still closed) and decided to watch Iron Man 3. I reached home right in the afternoon, and had some three hours sleep before editing the photos. This work was indeed one of the most enjoyable photo shoot I have ever done.
Photo Shoot Tips from Me
Some more tips I learned after doing this project
If you live in tropical country early morning is the best time for photo shoot
I realized this fact just after I did this photo shoot. In the morning, the weather is very cool and relaxing. The natural light from the sun is also very beautiful and soft, and it is not too harsh so you may not even need a reflector. Moreover, the fresh air will increase the mood of you and your model, so both of you can perform better. Just be sure to have a nice sleep if you want to do photo shoot in early morning.
Be friendly with the model
Of course, without crossing the boundary of professionalism. Plan a meeting two or three days before you work together, just to understand better about her. If you think that you are good at making friends, try to be friendly with her. Believe me, it won’t hurt, and even will make you perform better in the photo shoot.
Explain the model about your concept and idea
And don’t forget to ask for her feedback. She might have some brilliant idea that you didn’t even think. If it is possible, discuss also about the wardrobe that she is going to wear, the accessories, and how you want her to pose for the photos.
Enjoy your work
The most important thing in photography (and any other arts) is to enjoy what you are doing. By enjoying the process of the photo shoot, you will realize that your photos will appear to be more “lively” and there is “soul” inside the photos. Thus, people will love your photos more.
