Behind the shoot: Urban lifestyle in Harlem
January 30, 2012
In the world of commercial photography, urban professional lifestyle content is always in demand. But not just any content, explains Corbis art director Jennifer Fox Freeman. “Clients are clamoring for city life, casts that are realistic — real people, not so model-like — people who look like they would really be hanging out together.”
Jennifer recently teamed up with photographer Michael Patrick O’Leary to shoot an image set featuring African American talent in New York City. The brief called for “technology, sports watching, hanging out, and parties.” Michael’s job was to become a fly on the wall, capturing authentic shots of friendship and fun. One challenge was getting tight compositions while maintaining natural facial expressions. “If you put too many parameters on people sometimes you end up with something that seems very forced,” Michael notes, “We had the luxury of running through the scenes several times and then reviewing and making subtle adjustments to try to manipulate them into the composition we needed.” The chic but comfortable location helped the shoot gel. “The Harlem brownstone really set the tone for the whole shoot. Immediately it gave a certain feel or mood to the scenes we were trying to create.”
Casting also contributed to the authentic feel. “All of our clients are shying away from overly styled beauty models and want to represent the world today, whether that is larger, plus-size models or more unique faces.” Jennifer says. But such models can be hard to find. “Someone who is real, but not too real. Someone who is comfortable in front of the camera yet not overly posed or contrived. It is harder then it seems.” So, how do you do it? “The key is to interact with your talent prior to the shoot to get a feel for how natural they can be. Having the models come to a casting or go see helps you know what energy they can bring to set and warm them up for the shoot, so when it comes time to capture the images all are ready.”
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Tags: African, African American, behind the scenes, friendship, lifestyle photography, party, photo shoot, professional photography, sports, technology, urban lifestyle
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