Beach Shooting
I had wondered whether I should even bring my big camera, with all the lenses and other bells and whistles. Meanwhile most of the photos I've taken in recent years were taken with my smartphone.
Even though I recorded the podcast with Flo in Biarritz last year using my SLR camera, I didn't really think I'd take it out of its case this year.
Things turned out differently - two Swiss female surfers felt like doing a spontaneous photo shoot at sunset.
Nothing out of the ordinary so far - we took some jump shots on the dune and a few photos in and around the water. Impressive, of course, but nothing really exciting to me, I thought. After all, I’m quite familiar with the process from dance photography. The lighting conditions at sunset also worked in my favor -I know backlighting all too well from stage photography.
But...
...what really got me thinking was the girls's choice of photos afterward and the impact they had on social media. It wasn't the typical "pretty pictures" that went over well, but rather the ones with atmosphere and depth.
Back to Basics
I have the feeling that, precisely because of smartphone photography and AI inflation, the appreciation for - and even the need for - authentic, genuine, and slightly imperfect-looking photos is making a comeback.
It even got to the point where Tamara asked me not to edit the photos too much, to make them look as "real" as possible - whatever that means these days.
The filter on my 70-200mm lens and the light filtering through the mist of the surf were more than enough to achieve the effect you'd expect from a beach photo.
Of course, with their athleticism and charisma, Svenja and Tamara were absolutely perfect for a photo shoot like this.
I'll definitely will take out my 5D Mark IV more often again and keep an eye out for the real stuff - it seems authenticity has returned.
How wonderful.
