Don't Look at Me.
Recently, I opened my first studio location after working out of my home for the past 7 years. It is located in The River Oaks Tower on the corner of Richmond and Kirby Dr. and I am having the time of my life with each new portrait session that walks through my door! Primarily, the sessions that are coming to me are for engagement sessions. That’s ok for now.
I am attempting to develop a unique style in Houston. A style that I can brand as my own in this market. The look is black on black, meaning black clothing on a black background. The finished prints are then converted into black and white, and are then further converted into a warm sepia tone. The final look of the portrait is something that draws the viewer right to the emotions of the subjects.
If it were up to me, the subjects would never be looking at the camera, only at each other. There are a few reasons for this, the first being that I get a bit uncomfortable when I hang a photograph and the subject is staring right back at me. I can’t look at an image like that for very long. The second thing that this does for my work is that it allows my subjects to relax a bit more. They are not so anxious if they are not staring right at the camera. They tend to be themselves more, avoiding the complaint of “that doesn’t even look like me.”
I usually start a portrait session off with some very basic, classic arrangements, and then progress into increasingly harder posing. But at some point, it always seems that my clients will have a few suggestions of their own. I think this happens at times because they feel relaxed with me, and this too could be because I do not have them looking at the camera.
Here are a few examples from an engagement shoot last week. From the moment you meet this couple, there is no question that they share a unique bond and the charisma to match.
Additional examples can be seen in the Studio Sepia section of Solaris Studios.
Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer
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