Monday 19th April

Reportage photography

When considering using a professional photographer, there are two issues to consider.

First, and most obviously, do you like the photographer?  Is this a person who you can work with?  Do you get the feeling that this individual will be able to understand your requirements and deliver the photographs you want?

Or does the photographer have views of how photography should be done, which will supplant your desires and overcome your wishes – and in fact end up giving you pictures that you did not want.

And second, as if that were not enough, you have to decide which style of photography you want.

There are many different styles of photographic work, including reportage (also known as: photojournalism), pictorialist (or “straight”) photography, modernist photography, post-modernist photography and so on.

Lanta Portrait specialises in Reportage Photography.  I see this as the art of blending the set world (which can be thought of as the facts as provided in a documentary) with the ever changing world that we experience second by second. 

Below is a detailed view of what Reportage Photography means.  But in case you are in a hurry here’s a quick definition…

• Reportage is a way of creating natural photographs which capture the events without interfering with what any of the people involved are doing. 

The development of reportage photography

Reportage in photography emerged as cameras became smaller in the 1930s and so could be used in action photography.

As a result our photographs pick up the personal perception, the anecdotal evidence – life as we experience it day by day. 

What this means is that the photographs in the reportage reflect more how the individuals being photographed are, in the real world, rather than how they can appear in a highly stylised presentation.

The Background to reportage

The initial use of the word reportage came in the context of the total coverage of an event.  Thus a reportage photograph of a child would have the child in the context of the child’s normal behaviour, not posed artificially in a studio wearing a put-on smile for the camera. 

Reportage can be thought of as the eye witness record of events which continue to unfold.  The wedding photographed in this way is photographed as a developing programme, rather than a set of static shots, disconnected from each other.

In this way Reportage is used to give a personal record of the events being photographed.  They are more like extracts from a biography in which the individual is explored, rather than the world as seen through a carefully prepared and scripted “thank you” letter, sent in response to a wedding present.

What reportage photography brings to your life is a record of the events – weddings, parties, children growing etc… as they occur, rather than in a stage managed way.

They help you record the story of your life.

Friday 16th April

What is portrait photography?
Portrait photography developed from the moment of the arrival of the first commercial cameras.  It appealed to people as a method of recording an individual, or group, for posterity, which until that moment had only been possible through the much more expensive medium of portrait painting.
Studios specialising in portrait photography arose very quickly after the invention of the commercial camera, some generating as many as 500 pictures a day, each of which would have a 30-second exposure time. 
The style and approach reflected that of the paintings that had come before, simply because there was no other model.
Most people who were photographed were seated with a plain background behind, and with soft light above as an illumination (an attic window was a favourite).

Today when portrait photographs are taken in a studio, the photographer now has an ever greater control over the ligs and this can affect the picture greatly – indeed it is possible to use up to separate lights in order to get a specific effect.

And just as the lighting has evolved many techniques, so there are many different techniques for portrait photography itself, and it is vital that if you are planning to take on a photographer either for a one off, or for a record of events over time, you are happy with the style and approach used.

Some photographers retain the original formal portrait style.  Some aim to capture the subject's face in sharp focus with the rest of the body in soft focus – and it is important to see example of your chosen photographer’s work to ensure that you are happy with his or her style.

Portrait photography is still developing, and new styles are emerging all the time both in terms of lighting and in terms of technique.  If you want an approach that is unusual and experimental, do be sure to tell the photographer this from the start.  Likewise if you want a classic approach, make this plain to the photographer you choose. If you like my style of photography and your interested in having a shoot get in touch.

Monday 22nd March

Photographs of children go through fashions, from the carefully arranged study where (often with some difficulty) the photographer gets the child to do what she wants, to shots taken as children run around at the photographer’s command.

But what is often forgotten are all the natural pictures that can be taken: pictures of the child doing what the child wants to do, pictures of the child taken from a different angle, pictures from above, pictures from the side…   Pictures that reflect the child as he or she is, every day.

The fact is that no picture can ever totally represent the child. Each child does a thousand things a day and behaves in a thousand different ways. 

Which is why, increasingly, we are thinking about not just how to take the photograph, but also how the photograph can be made to reflect the child’s personality and to symbolise the inner self of the child through the picture of the outer self.

With modern technology almost anything is possible in respect of the actual mechanics of photography, but technology itself can only respond to the way the picture is set – and that is where the skill of the photographer comes in.

A picture of a child sitting facing the camera wearing a neatly arranged school uniform can be a solid representation of an idealised situation, and this is obviously of value. 

But a picture of the same child in the same uniform running across the sitting room carpet and leaping onto the sofa might well be more representational of the daily life of the child and might provide greater and deeper memories of the real world for years to come.

I specialise in capturing the heart and soul of children in pictures.  If you would like to explore this please do get in touch by calling me on 07877 199 708

There are samples of my work on the portfolio page

Lanta portrait is based in Leamington Spa specialising in family portrait photography.