Durban-based photographer Luca Barausse shares great advice and his experience during a portrait shoot in Barcelona.
Guest article by Luca Barausse, a Durban-based photographer specialising in weddings and events.
Recently I was flown to Barcelona to shoot a wedding. I will be writing up a blog all about it but first I thought I would share the pre-wedding shoot we did.
We flew up two weeks early to make a little holiday of it. While exploring the city, I heard of a place called Tibidabo. It’s a mountain 512 meters high that overlooks the whole of Barcelona and most of the surrounding coastline. On this mountain sits Barcelona’s oldest amusement park. They have rides there that date back to the early 1900s. The park was featured in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona so if you have seen the movie you should have a picture of it.
When I heard about it I just thought, amazing views, rad old school rides, sunset, crazy lights! Photography porn really, so I called up my clients and convinced them to have a “pre-wedding shoot”.
Once we got to the top, I realized the shoot was going to be tricky. There were 1000s of tourists that firstly made my couple feel uncomfortable in front of the camera and secondly, would always get in my shot. I had thought of so many amazing images and poses in my head and I wanted them to materialize so badly but it just wasn’t happening. I realized I was putting too much pressure on myself and Marco and Laura – something needed to change. I had to put my pre-visualised ideas aside, so we jumped into the carousel and just had fun. From then on they slowly warmed up in front of the lens and the shoot started to come together. Sometimes being over prepared is a hinderance to creative flow. It’s so easy to get caught up and box ourselves in. A lesson every photographer or creative has to learn. Always be prepared but allow room for creativity to grow and take over.
In the end we got some awesome shots, we had fun and they now have a fantastic memory that will last forever.
For more photos from the shoot, visit Luca’s blog.
Photos and article shared with permission.
