AOP part 18: Simple Props
While props don't feature too often in my work I do like them because they give the model something to work with, which in turn gives them some different poses and themes.
What I don't like are gratuitous props. Like the random guitar or rose flower. You know, you've seen them.
I like the way that painters, especially the "old masters", handle this. They have nothing in their paintings except what they choose to show. And what they choose is in someway symbolic.
A book shows learning, a shield is military, purple is imperial, rough foods might show a bucolic peasant approach, a rich feast something fit for a king. The list goes on and on (and also applies to colour too).
So, if we are going to include a prop it should do one of two things and ideally both. One: it should give the model something to pose with and create new poses or themes. Two: it should provide some sort of additional, symbolic content to the image.
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This is an excerpt from "Anatomy of a Photoshoot" which gives a complete breakdown of two days shooting with a full in-depth step by step review of everything that I do.
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