As you probably know or have read here in an article somewhere, personal projects as a photographer are an important part of your creative process, especially as a professional. Having a creative outlet that is not related to the building of your business and still within the realm of photography allows us to explore the ideas we create in our heads without the pressure of client expectations.
The only issue is, as dreamers, we tend to dream much bigger than the reality of our pocketbooks. Sure, I’d LOVE to have in my portfolio a photograph of a couple in an ice cave in the middle of Antartica, but the thousands of dollars of travel fees and hatred for being cold, prevent me from making that vision a reality. If you have an idea for a personal project, or have one you are currently tinkering with, the following video gives some good tips to help you photograph a stylized portrait session when you’re on a budget.
[REWIND: My personal tips on HOW TO ORGANIZE A STYLED PHOTO SHOOT ON A BUDGET]
Our friend, Jay P. Morgan from The Slanted Lens gives tips using an example from his own personal project, a portrait series called, “Time Period.” Using his love of history, Jay P.’s art series is a series of vintage styled portraits from different time periods in history. His goal is to, “create portraits that look like they were taken by me as if [he] were there in that time.”
His tips are semi-specific to this project, which is vintage-focused in the WWII time period, but can be adapted to fit your own shooting needs. He also goes into some detail showing his lighting setup and post process to complete the look and feel of his images. Watch below or read his post on The Slanted Lens site to see the rest of the images.
What types of personal projects are you working on? Share in the comments below.
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