planning an album

Although we briefly touched on the pre-planning part of creating a special album, I got a question from Rebecca regarding this so I thought I'd expand a bit.


Whenever you are covering an event, regardless of whether it's a birth, birthday, wedding, special get together, anniversary, whatever, there are certain things that can make the album tell more of a story than just the 'money shots.' Of course, it's important to get the 'money shots' and being aware of when they are going to come is extremely crucial - missing the winner cross the finish line or the birthday girl blowing out the candles on her cake would be just plain silly. But with any event there is a substantial amount of planning that went into it as well as all the random things that occur in the course of the day that really differentiate one event from another. The traditional idea of he wedding photographer being hired only to get the 'money shots' has become passe, and people are more and more interested in seeing something that tells a story.



This practice of capturing a story is commonly called 'photojournalism' and was once upon a time primarily relegated to National Geographic photographers heading to a third-world country with the task of painting the whole picture to us; the culture, people, traditions, landscape, weather, costumes all formed an important part of conveying the social, economic, and political nature of their location. Modern photographers have adopted the spirit of photojournalism, present company included. In fact, aside of a few headshots and special projects, pretty much every session I do could be classified as a form of photojournalism.



Planning the album, whether simple or complex, always begins with identifying the money shots. For example, when doing a family session, I always keep in the back of my mind that the objective is to get one or two 'framers' of each person and/or grouping. (Not unlike this week's assignment.) With input from the subject, we choose a location and setting that is suitable, which might mean we're baking cookies or visiting the zoo or just showing off our new duds. While the 'event' happens, although I keep in the back of my mind that at some point I will have to intrude on the proceedings to get people seated in relative proximity of one another, I kind of just let the hour unfold, and watch for details - little things that happen or become apparent within the event - that make it unique to that particular family.



Be aware, be alert. Did Mom buy special shoes just for the occasion? Is there a favourite blanket nearby? Did one of the kids get distracted by the cat? Did Dad put his glasses on the counter so he could wrestle with the children? Simply put, these are the things that turn a portrait session into an 'event' requiring a photojournalistic approach, things you don't necessarily look for, but things that make themselves apparent to you. The only dirty little secret you need to know in order to succeed at photojournalism is stay in the moment, to be aware, be alert. Please remember: This DOES NOT speak to the style or quality of the pictures, only the ability to make them tell a story - all the icky boring technical stuff we've been learning is what will make the pictures stand alone instead of only having context or value as part of the bigger collection. (One of my favourite recent pictures that doesn't stand alone, though, was actually a shot taken during Jen's labour on April 2nd of a prenatal card showing an appointment scheduled for a couple of days later... despite the fact that outside the birth album it has no context, it nevertheless makes me giggle every time I see it lol)


Rebecca has bought her Grandmother, with whom she shares a very special relationship, tickets to a concert of a country and western singer that Grandma loves. Everyone is very excited about this event, and she has decided she really wants to put together an album for Grandma afterwards. If I were covering this 'event' I would start by taking pictures of the tickets. If Grandma doesn't know about the tickets, getting a picture of her reaction to the tickets definitely needed. If Grandma is getting picked up at the airport, I would take pictures of the drive to the airport, the terminals with the flight info, Grandma's face as she walked into the luggage area. If everyone is getting dressed up special, I would snap a few shots of that process, and I would make a point of getting a group picture done with all of us in our finery heading out the door. There would be pictures of the venue, maybe a picture of Grandma handing the ticket to the vendor, and probably some pictures inside of Grandma waiting with anticipation. The empty stage, Grandma's face when the lights came up, and whatever pictures of the concert I could manage to get. (This is of course providing cameras are allowed.) If Grandma had a favourite song (I would have asked before we left for the venue so I knew which one it was) I would make a point of taking extra pictures of both her reaction and the performer singing during that particular song. When the concert was over, I would try and get a picture of Grandma clapping, then a few pictures of leaving - walking out the double doors, getting back in the car - and hopefully there will be a huge, grateful grin on her face. And when we got home, I'd try and take a picture of satisfied happy Grandma relaxing with her feet up on the ottoman before bed, or maybe a moonlit picture of her slippers on the floor beside the bed where she's snoring happily. The. End.

This approach applies to all events. Especially with weddings, any details that the bride and groom had to look after, you sould probably snap - the centre pieces, the cake, the favours, the place settings, the colour scheme, the buffet... you name it. When you plan something like a wedding or even just a kids' birthday party, you plan right down to the cutlery and candles, and there's only one day it's ever going to be on display - may as well have a picture to remember it by.

Rebecca also had some technical questions about shooting in low light with a weak or no flash, to which the answer is simple: increase your film speed to 1600 or 3200, shoot with a wide aperture, and hold your breath while you shoot. Most of the pictures will have weird colour casts from the concert lights - you can decide if you'd prefer to convert your images to B&W or leave them with the funky colours. There will be grain (noise) - get over it lol. Unless you're in the first several rows, using a flash is useless, so save the room in your bag.

Comments

Rebecca McKay said…
Thanks so much Hope! As you said how you would document it, I cried! I'm very excited.
I'll have to display the pictures afterwards!!!

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