Conceptual Photography

Hello everyone and welcome to “Rolling Shutter” the official blog of New Realm Photography. Today I want to talk a little about conceptual photography. (Photography with a theme) There are several ways to go about this and it can affect your budget and the time involved of the clients and photographer/editors.

Picking your theme: you have a lot to work with here, as it can be original or something of popular culture. Anime and Super Heroes are very popular along with sci-fi and video game characters. Costuming can take time and this is something you will want to work on before scheduling your shoot. This will probably be one of your biggest investments but you can always get more use out of it at the next Con.

Location of shoot: Do you have a specific place in mind? Can a permit or permission be received to shoot there? It is always important to think this part out well in advance. Trespassing is not a good idea. Also can your character be composited into a background? Miniatures can be shot and used as your background in your final images. Props: Want a special ride and it is too small to get into? It can be composited in at full scale. Batman now has a Bat mobile full size. There is a lot that can be done here. Just remember that compositing takes the photographer/editor time and will add to the price of the shoot.

Once you know what you want your photographer will better be able to work within your budget. Remember time is money and the more organized you are will save you money in the long run.

Final prints: Remember after going through all this work you will want something to show off all of your hard work. I recommend large wall prints. Either canvas or poster prints. Your photographer will be able to price these for you when working on your budget.

About the included image: I had a concept and worked with this wonderful model to bring it to fruition. Costuming came from eBay. The props came from Toy-R-Us. The location just happened to look like an abandoned starship. This type of shoot is always fun.

If you need help working on your next conceptual shoot give me a call. Dayton Ohio Area, 937-829-0532.

Stephen Fink

New Realm Photography

nrpstudio@me.com