As a photographer, there’s quite a bit I’ve experimented with – settings, angles, lighting, time of day – but I’ve never had much of an interest or ability to try photographing people, especially in a studio-like setting. The idea of creating a simulated environment in which to photograph my subjects in has always sounded like too much work…until I was offered to take photos for a local musician as a cover for his new single!
Carl Les is a one-man-band who had an upcoming single and had a specific idea for its image; he explained the concept to me and asked if I would take a photo for it. On a recent afternoon we met up and shared ideas, and I tried a lot of new things (that I wasn’t even entirely sure I could pull off). The song, “Wreck”, encapsulated angsty feelings of being at a party but feeling desperately alone; with the help of my boyfriend and Carl’s fiancée Nolita, as well as my research into figuring out more settings on my camera, the photos came together and started taking shape to reflect the song’s meaning. A couple hours and almost a hundred photos later, we finished up and I hoped desperately that I’d gotten some good shots.
For the photoshoot, I used the Bulb Mode on my Canon camera (which I didn’t even know existed previously) and fiddled with the aperture and ISO speed (another thing I was a bit unfamiliar with, as most of the camera settings I’ve used have fixed settings) until the images were a good balance between moody dark and overly bright. The rest was lots and lots of experimenting, mistakes, and tiny tweaks until we knew we had a good amount of photos that could work.
Surprisingly enough to me, I really enjoyed the photoshoot – and I think it’s amazing that my work is now a single cover for a local artist! I’m grateful that Carl asked me to do this; the experience taught me so much. I’d love to try something like it again and continue playing around with long exposure photography.
If you’d like to listen to Carl’s song, embeds can be found below:
Congrats to both Carl and you, Hazel! Stretching the boundaries of your creativity is how you grow as an artist. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Tim <3
Hazel, this photo shoot was perfect!!! Your skill and willingness to step out on a limb with Carl and create ART was soo inspiring!! It was hard to choose a favourite photo!
Thank you so much for your comment, Nolita! I really appreciate it and I’m so glad I was able to do this with you all.
I agree with the comments above, what a great opportunity and experience. You and Carl both made some pretty cool art, and it’s neat to see the collaboration. Proud of you Hazel!
Hazel this is so cool! So profesh!
Thank you, auntie! <3