Using What You’ve Got

I have always been fascinated by the work of people like Eric Almas, John Fulton and Koen Demuynck. The idea of compositing many images together to make a photograph interests me. However, sometimes my goals for producing personal shots using that technique fall by the wayside as other duties pile up. Ironically, a simple job which I would never use for my portfolio opened my eyes to additional opportunities I was missing.

The client needed a subject photographed on a white background (photo 1) The lightning had to match a background that their other employees were shot in front of (in NYC by another photographer) so our subject could be dropped in (photo 2). Not too difficult, but not very impressive either. During the job I realized that I had a willing subject in front of me, so why didn’t I shoot a few more frames and make a photograph later that fit my vision? After selecting an image I considered a concept, scouted a background and photographed it when the light was right (photo 3).

I do create personal work on my own time, but now I also consider how I can use every job to do the same.