Male vs Female Inspiration

photo credits: orbeq, jnsilva, samalive, anthonyn1cholas

One day I realized I follow a lot of women photographers on Instagram. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but what is up with that?

I was following a few guys, my son (hardly posts), a few young guys from church (my friends’ sons), my nephew…ok you get the picture.

Then one day, I’m not sure how, I stumbled upon some aerial shots of NYC. Man, they were awesome, I love NY, used to live there. They were shot by jnsilva . Then you know how things cascade, you start looking through someone's stream, and that leads you to someone tagged (samalive) or someone who commented (anthonyn1cholas) , and pretty soon you forgot you had water boiling for pasta and the pot is half empty and you’re thinking “wait, what day is it, and when did I last let the dogs out?” Or is that just me? ;)

Anyway, the guys I found and continue to find and their amazing pics were making me think about the difference in how men and women see & edit what they photograph. I started to see that sometimes there was a very different, rad world that men were photographing. Other times, was it that much different than some of the women I follow?

I began to notice that the guys’ shots appear to contain more contrast, or maybe it’s just what they photograph. They seem to, and this is probably key, “chase the harsh light” amazingly well! There’s even a IG hashtag for it #chasingharshlight. I’m not sure I have ever had that in mind when setting out to shoot!

The men also seem to prefer sharper more detailed shots, that are symmetrical, often times with their subject smack dab in the middle or lines leading to the center and/or disappearing.

*Sigh* so much inspiration, so not enough time (hours in the day, summer, free, or golden) I’ve been trying to remember when out shooting to experiment with what I am learning from these guys. These last two shots are mine. 

Share with us who you follow on IG that inspires you to think outside of your usual shooting style? Or show us how you've been pushing out of your envelop style to gain some different insight or creative mojo?

Some guys more to check out:

wrongrob

orbeq

scottborrero

littlecoal

andrewjasonleung

jmetheridge

Family Photo Shoots

…Paint my face and call me Ronald…

(image credit to tattoodonkey)

Because that's what I feel like when taking

FAMILY PHOTOS!!

YEP…I SAID IT…

THE FAMILY PHOTO SESSION

        How many of you have had that one photo session where the sweet and loving child just wakes up from a nap and isn't in the mood to meet new people and really doesn't want a camera in his/her face.  He may scream and cry and run away…until…yep, until…you reach in your bag of tricks and pull out…None other than a new TOY!  What! This funny looking girl who is holding a black circle mask over her eye (camera);  she has Toys! 

   

       All of a sudden, he wants to be friends with you! Phew…crisis averted…until, that toy has lost it's luster and he is back to crying and running.  All the while, the family is trying to maintain composure and smile pretty with their newborn in hand.  How many of you are laughing right now because you know this happens. 

      So, what does every good clown do…we pull out a new trick! Maybe you have to put that dirty and slimy favorite dump truck of his on the top of your head in order to get him to look up and quick snap a picture!  Now you have dirt in your hair and slime..but you have a picture of the boy!   So after fighting to get that perfect family photo, maybe you are too tired to fight the beautiful little tyrant, so you let him run and play and be happy…and then… only then… do you get the perfect caption for that family.  The only way to describe that family…is just by that.  Let the tyrant run free and let him play and catch the perfect shot that the parents will look back and laugh over because that is the "real" family.  They weren't the picture perfect family that you see sometimes in magazines.  They were the family with dirty kids and running boys and moms just shaking their heads and dads laughing and waiting for the boys to "crash"  

     So, overall, yes…we are clowns! We have to race with the kids, we have to jump and "quack" and "squeak" and fly around like planes.  Why?  Because we want to capture that kid in his or her natural sense.  We want them to be remembered for who they really are at that age…and that may be grumpy! or wild and running free!  It's ok. 

   

   So put on your wig and don't forget your red nose and get out there and be silly! 

     WE ARE PHOTOGRAPHERS! 

Happy Photographing!

lensbaby love

No big insights or tips or creative lessons this week...just a few pretty pictures.

~C