Making unique and characterful photos is one of the challenges for a photographer. By having those qualities, people will easily recognize the photographer behind the work. However, for a beginner photographer, like myself, creating unique and characterful photos is not an easy task.
The difficulty of creating unique and characterful photos is closely related to imitation. Imitation is the easiest way to create photos with unique and characterful results. Since the world of photography has been around for decades, the works of past photographers have become an inspiration for current photographers, who then begin to imitate them. Thus, these works develop into unique and characterful photos with distinctive features for each photographer who imitates them.
From imitation, photographers eventually develop their own style, which over time becomes distinctive from other photographers. However, these works have their own value to those who view them, some may like them and some may not, so there is no standard for judging a good or bad photo.
In my opinion, the goodness of a photo can only be evaluated in technical terms. Does someone understand the exposure triangle, camera metering, and many other technical aspects? There are even terms like high key and low key, where a photo is very bright or very dark. However, these photos also have a feeling, so judging a photo as good or bad will ultimately depend on the viewer's taste.
As a photographer, I personally love experimenting, discovering new colors and styles so that my photos can look different from other photographers in my city. My goal is to captivate others with my photos. However, it seems that because my photos are different, some people might find it strange. Therefore, it is best to love our own work first while still following the technical aspects of photography, before considering the judgments of others.
I love vintage-style photos with the characteristic of film photography. With the digital era now, it is not difficult to create them using editing applications. However, lately, I have challenged myself to see how I can produce vintage-style photos without going through the editing process, and of course, the answer is difficult.
One way I produce vintage photos is by using a flash. One brand of lighting that I have been using is the Godox Lux Senior. This flash is universal and can be used with all camera brands, even with vintage film cameras.
This is what attracted me to buy this flash because most flashes have a specific design for certain camera brands. I think Godox Lux Senior is very suitable for me, who loves retro style.
The photos above are the results of using a Fujifilm camera with the Godox Lux Senior flash. I feel that the photos are already in line with what I want. Although some people may think they are far from a vintage look because the photos are too sharp. But I love the colors and the light from the hard flash that illuminates the model's face. Of course, before the photo session, I searched for references from old photos, and I think the results are good. What do you think?
I hope you like it. One downside of this flash is that some people may find it too intimidating. Because the flash cannot be directed like a regular flash. So I'm quite worried that people will be bothered when I bring it to take street photos.
Thank you,
Warm regards from me.
Here's a bonus photo from me, I made it as if it were a magazine cover. And I created this for the highlight cover on my Instagram story.
