I took this image in September 2016 during a two-day portrait workshop I held in my studio just outside of Oslo. My studio is in a barn, surrounded by a beautiful landscape with mountains and fields. Nature is naturally changing due to the seasons and offers a variety of backgrounds and moods to my images. There are also rustic walls in wood and concrete that I use a lot.
I prefer natural light, and to work as simple as possible which basically is my camera and myself. Sometimes I have an assistant that holds a reflector or a diffusor. I prefer flat light and avoid strong shadows as much as I can so where I shoot depends a lot on the light on that specific moment. Photoshop is my happy place, and I love the editing process; removing distractions and working on coloring and mood.
I often ask my subjects to close their eyes and mentally enter a certain mood. Or I just ask them to be who they are, as I don’t like fake smiles. This is how I get the candid photos that I strive for.
I seek to create images that mean something, both for those who are depicted, for those who watch and for future generations – the images that are ‘more than just a picture’.
This is also what I teach in my portrait photography workshops. On this September day, we had the perfect flat evening light. It was easy to pose our stunning model Emma in the field, and I love how her hair and rye straws blended. Her clothes were also perfect for this setting, and this was luck rather than planning. The lesson learned when shooting in the field is to plan your styling carefully to make it look perfectly unstyled!
What are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!
I love Emma’s honest look and how she blends into the field.
If you could make this photo again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or different?
As a young Emma, her hair and styling work so well with the golden, ripe field that I think this image is difficult to make better or different. I also love it just as it is!
Anne Helene Gjelstad shared this photograph with the FRAMES Facebook Group.
Photographer
Anne Helene Gjelstad, Oslo, Norway
WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM 1
INSTAGRAM 2
FACEBOOK
Equipment and settings
Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 135mm f2
f2.5, 1/500, ISO 800
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