Tag:

portrait photographer

Faceless portrait

by Ally May 17, 2019

So, here I am, back on track with my 52 week photo challenge, and this week’s theme is Faceless Portrait.

For someone who likes to photograph people and faces, a faceless portrait seemed like a bizarre challenge, but I was ready to take it on. I did have a few ideas run through my head, but this one was my favourite right from the beginning.

While there are many elements to a portrait, the face is by far one of the most important! So I knew I had to replace it with something that would stand out just as much.

As soon as I met Pavlina, and I saw her beautiful hair I knew that she would the perfect model for this photo challenge, Isn’t her hair just stunning?

From a technical point of view the challenge was pretty simple. We were in the studio at the time of taking these shots, so it was pretty easy to use the same et up, although this concept would look just as good in any environment.

I had an old photo frame where the glass had shattered, and I had kept it, for years … I knew that one day it would come in useful. I asked Pavlina to hold up an empty photo frame in front of her face. I then took a few shots with her facing me.

I then asked Pavlina to turn around and I took some photos of her back, from the same angle and with the same settings, keeping everything as similar as possible to the previous set up.

I am by no means a Photoshop champion and I use very rarely for this type of editing. For this project I used layers and then deleted the image inside the frame, revealing Pavlina’s hair. And tadaa …

Pretty easy and very effective.

I really enjoyed this challenge, and it was really refreshing to think outside the box to try to create something different. I might even attempt some of my other ideas later on this year. Keep an eye out!

May 17, 2019

My photo challenge

Reflection

by Ally May 3, 2019

Ever since I decided to take up photography as a hobby, I had always wanted a photo of me like this … a reflection of me and my camera together! For some really bizarre reason, it felt like this kind of image was a right of passage … the kind of photograph that you only take when you have made it as a successful photographer! I have absolutely no idea why! I mean, it doesn’t require any special equipment or knowledge or experience. In fact, it is probably the most straight forward photograph I have taken since the beginning of my challenge. It was just me, my camera, a mirror and good natural light coming through the window at the end of the day.

So why I waited so long to take this photo? I don’t know … but I am grateful to my photo challenge for making me use my creativity and go back through old ideas that never materialised themselves before.

I do realise I am a few weeks late in posting this. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen my post a couple of days ago about having taken some time off. I didn’t go anywhere … and I carried on with day to day life and photoshoots, because, that’s what you’ve got to do sometimes! But I needed some time off to look at the bigger picture and re-focus.

So the title of this image – Reflection – is actually extremely well suited. Yes, it is a reflection of me and my camera in the mirror, but it is so much more. I took a few weeks off to reflect … Reflect on how far I have come? And the fact that somehow, for some unknown and clearly very arbitrary reason, I now felt ready to take this picture of myself, because I have finally felt like I have made it as a successful photographer. And yet, I still have so much to learn, so much to grow and so much to achieve.

I feel like I have done a lot of growing in these past few weeks, and I am now ready for the next stage of Ally Berry Photography. Don’t worry … there won’t be any huge changes, just lots of little ones which hopefully over time will grow into big ones!

One of these changes is my new Instagram page. I have always struggled with knowing what to post on my Facebook and Instagram feed … Do I keep my page completely professional? But then what happens to the fun side of me? Well, the fun side of me now has its own Instagram page, with a slightly less curated content, and mostly just a bit of fun – if you want to follow me and check it out, go to @allyberryhavingfun and hit Follow

And now that I am back to blogging, keep an eye on next week’s blog – a Faceless Portrait, as well as more collaborations coming up very soon.

Wishing you all a fabulous bank holiday weekend!

May 3, 2019

Headshots

Fin

by Ally April 9, 2019

I have a real admiration for young people who know what they want to do later in life, and who go out there and try and make it happen. They are determined to achieve their dreams.

There is something really special about photographing young aspiring actors and models, and I always feel privileged knowing that I am somehow able to be part of their journey by taking some of their first headshots.

Fin came into my studio a few months ago, because he wanted to join an acting agency and needed some headshots. His photo session was a blast! Here are just a few of the images we captured!

Fin was confident in front of the camera and took direction really well. A quick learner, he was able to pick up new poses easily. He also had a great command of his facial expressions, which is very impressive, especially for someone so young, but obviously a very important skill for an actor.

His serious and gloomy poses are some of my favourites!

This is what Fin said about his photo session:

Hi, I’m Fin, I’m 14 and I am an aspiring actor. I went to Ally to get some head shots for my profile at the acting and modelling agency I’m registered with. I really didn’t know what to expect.

However the shoot was in a really comfortable and relaxed environment and Ally gave me lots of direction about where to put my arms, where to look and how to ‘sqwinch’! I really enjoyed it, it was a great experience.

I am looking forward to seeing what Fin gets up to next on his next acting adventures and achievements.

Meanwhile, if you have a teenager at home who is keen to try their hand at acting or modelling, and they need some headshots, and portfolio photos, give me a call.

Call Me

April 9, 2019

My photo challenge

SOOC – Straight out of the camera

by Ally March 29, 2019

Phew … you have no idea how great it feels to be taking and editing photographs of people again! Don’t get me wrong, I have throughly enjoyed trying different things, finding new settings on my camera I never knew existed, and generally having fun creating images I have never done before!

But it’s also nice to be back on known ground! Doing what I enjoy, and what I know I am good at!

This week’s challenge was Straight Out Of Camera – or for us geeky photographers out there – SOOC.

There was a time, not that long ago, where all photographs were straight out of camera! You would take your film camera with you, shoot some photos, take the film to Boots, and then collect your Straight Out Of Camera photographs a few days later. You just had to hope you had used the right settings, and the right film …

There were no Instagram filters, no quick post processing in Photoshop or Lightroom, and certainly none of these cute dog nose, bunny ears kind of Snapchat filters to have fun with! More on this, in Tuesday’s blog!

Ok, with some high end photo labs, or if you had your own dark room and were a master at developing photos, there was some processing you could do … but it doesn’t even begin to compare with the amount of digital manipulation we have available at our fingertips nowadays!

Do I edit my photographs? Of course, I do! I’m not a huge photo editor … but I will regularly adjust levels, exposure, sometimes white balance. I will fix small defects and might run a gentle soft filter over some of my images, especially for ladies. Men with perfect skin just look weird! Sorry, guys!

Here’s an example of how my edited photograph would look, compared to the Straight Out Of the Camera one just above.

Is it hugely different? I don’t think so, but I definitely prefer the edited version!

Knowing that I would have to publish photographs that were completely unedited, did get me thinking a lot more about my photo composition, about the light available, and about the background!

I was very lucky to work with Pavlina, who is such a fabulous model! We took lots of different photos for a few of my forthcoming photo challenge themes, so you’ll get to see a bit more of her in the next couple of weeks!

After our photo session, Pavlina and I went out get a coffee at a nearby independent coffee shop – Common Grounds. If you haven’t been before, I highly recommend it! It’s in Little London, just by the entrance to the carpark behind M&S. They make some of the best coffee in town … and cake! Try it out!

So we took a few more photos over coffee.

I love these photos … but I have had to resist the urge to re-touch them. And that’s not because I don’t like them, but because, I don’t feel like they are my work! What I have come to realise is that post-processing my photographs in a particular way has become my signature … in the same way perhaps as a clothes designer would sew their label at the back of a dress.

What do you think? Do these photographs look the same as all my others? Or can you tell there’s something quite different about them?

Let me know by commenting below, or on whichever social media platform you happen to have seen this on.

March 29, 2019