It’s just a wall …

Today walking around Bologna, the city where I am now, for a few days, for the Italian Association of wedding photographer Convention, I came to my mind as things totally discounted and / or trivial can become diamonds in the eyes of the wedding photographer.

The attention I fell on a wall, a simple and crude red brick wall a bit aged and ruined by the weather but still solid and impassive.

A wall that can have so special? Well, for a photographer can have multiple functions: it can be a uniform background in front of which you can place the subjects for portraits. You can play with the distances between the subject and the wall and between the photographer and the subject and be able to obtain a number of interesting images. Or you can use it as an escape route by placing the person next to the wall and take advantage of its lines. For optical effect these lines can become of the diagonals which give an indication of movement of sight for reading the image.

Finally it can be used as a panel. The panels are used to reflect or attenuate the light. A wall in red brick can be exploited to give a warm tone to our subject. In this case will approach the subject on the wall, however, it will exclude the frame. It can be exploited in the same way to soften the light and create shadows on your subject so that in the final picture more three-dimensional.

The wall is just one example but there are thousands of things everyday that you can use to improve your photos. The experience and imagination are the elements that the photographer will use to make the most of the environment that surrounds it.

This is one of the reasons why it is advisable to trust your wedding photographer. Even when it appears he to be doing something bizarre or incomprehensible is better to give him confidence, will surprise you.