Changing up your style is important to keep things fresh in your photography endeavors. Curating new photoshoot ideas and concepts is one way to liven up your style and attract a new clientele. Try it out in your spare time before testing it out on your clients to see what fits for you. Practice makes perfect and you’ll be able to master a new concept to add to your portfolio in no time!
Here are seven creative photoshoot ideas to up your style and enhance your techniques to keep things from getting too boring!
1. Playing with Motion and Light
Test out slower shutter speeds and capture the motion of the world around you. While many may think of photographs as static and objects are caught frozen in time, capturing the movement of wind whipping through the trees and water rippling on the surface of the ocean is a unique photoshoot concept to play with.
Consider the speed at which your subject is moving. Are you capturing cars traveling on the highway? Or can it be the ripple effects when a fish bobs to the surface of a pond? Leaving your shutter open for a more exposed amount of time will photograph your subject, but taking note of the speed will either help or hurt the effect you’re going for with this theme. Find the balance between the speed of your subject and the speed of your shutter. The longer the shutter exposure, the blurrier the effect will be. You may not need a slow shutter speed if your subject is moving quickly – say cars on the highway. Leaving the shutter on too long might leave your subject without appearing in your photo at all.
2. Testing Out Shadows
Direct exposure to sunlight tends to be a photographer’s worst nightmare for lighting. But you can use it to your advantage and play around with shadows to contrast the lighting. Shadows direct attention to a specific point in the composition. They can also draw as much attention to the light, highlighting the subject. Look at the contrast in the light and focus on the shadow in your compositions. Shadows add depth and dimension, emphasizing upon distance that is great for both landscape and close-up shots. As you’re testing this photography concept out, keep in mind at what point in the day shadows will be longer and how they contrast between indoors and out.
3. Using Different Perspectives
Adding different perspectives apart from the conventional straight-on shots offers another interesting focus. For this new photoshoot idea, play around with pointing your camera always up or always down to capture a new angle. Use an interesting subject as the focal point in your experiment. You will eventually notice compositions in places you may never have considered. A wide-angle lens may help when capturing points of interest from above, while laying on the ground or photographing tall subjects can reveal an interesting perspective. Shooting downwards creates a strong image Photographing something upwards offers something more dramatic, unique and interesting, such as shooting the tops of tall trees in a forest.
Perspective photography adds a new concept to your portfolio that can be achieved via different angles that you take. Shooting upwards or downwards are a couple of ideas, but also consider:
- Using a low point and get as low to the ground as you can while pointing your camera straight ahead. A low vantage point includes more of the foreground and increases depth.
- Shooting from the hip means holding the camera at the same level as your hip and allowing you to capture more candid images.
- Use reflections that involve adding layers to create a feeling of depth. Try shooting through a mirror, sunglasses or windows.
4. Photograph Textures
One interesting photography concept is capturing textures. You can go out and find textures in nature, whether it’s bark on a tree or sand at the beach, or create your own by throwing paint, water, glitter, or anything really to your subject. Go crazy with this one and see what a macro or zoom lens can do. Practice making something abstract with no specific form to them to have a little fun with your new development.
5. Practice Studio/ Low Key Photography with a Black Backdrop
This can turn interesting if you’re able to set up a studio with just a black background. It’s easy to turn your own home into an inspiration if you’re able to find a room with enough natural light and have a large black background. This can be anything from black curtains, cardboard, or material large enough to have your subject in the middle of it all. Practice portrait shooting or headshots as black backgrounds make images look professional and studio-like. Natural light is important here to bring out your subject without the background making everything appear dark. Situate yourself so that light from the outside can shine into your shoot at the angle you want to practice.
6. Shoot Through Objects
You can create a foreground and frame your focal point through the use of shooting through objects. This adds a layer of depth and can create a colorful addition to your toolkit. Do this by either partly or directly shooting through something. A partly covered photo can be your hand covering part of the lens to create a blurry and black foreground. Shooting directly into an object where the whole lens is covered should have some sort of transparent material to work, such as a window, fence or sheet of tracing paper.
7. Photograph Something New!
It may sound obvious when you’re looking for a new style to add to your portfolio, but consider photographing something you’ve never done before. If you’ve always ever done portrait shots of families, consider grabbing landscape or nature shots. Use the lighting given to you on the day/night you decide to go out and use it to your advantage. Find new angles to add depth or create a focal point in a corner of your shot. Get out of your comfort zone and find ways that will add more value to your own personal branding endeavors. Some other ideas to photograph new subjects or photography themes are:
- Day or night photography
- Black and white, or color
- Candid or set-up, posed images
- Juxtapositioning and contrast
- Incorporating props
Give one of these photography ideas a shot and try adding a new technique into your style. You’ll be able to curate a unique portfolio that a diverse audience will demand and see how your bookings can improve. Start pulling your portfolio together to show off to your clientele and create a profile with PhotoBooker. We’ll help you obtain more business and only make a profit when you do.
