Mid-Cheshire Camera Club
Based in Winsford, Founded in 1976
Graham Curry - Photographing Men
Tonight, we had the pleasure of welcoming Graham Curry who gave us a talk on photographing men.
Graham is a familiar face to our club having judged competitions before as well as giving us talks in the past. I’m sure many on the L &PCU circuit will be familiar with Graham, if not the name, then most definitely the face.
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Graham gave a talk pact full of hints and tips on how to take that perfect portrait picture. The talk was laced with stories and anecdotes from Graham’s extensive time as a photographer, from meeting men in the park to baby oil.
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Granted these phrases and the title of his presentation sounds like a completely different talk, but it was all most definitely linked to photography! It was refreshing to have a talk that was so useful and not just a showcase of the photographer’s work.
Graham Curry
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Portrait photography is not something I do often but will feel much more confident doing so now with Graham’s many pearls of wisdom. Some that stood out as very useful were…
To make the shot as candid as possible even though it is posed, Graham often photographs his models looking away from the camera. Props can help relax a model and support the candid feel of the photo.
Try and have symmetry, i.e., with the hand placement.
Shoot from chin height to increase the feel of masculinity, men only obviously, no women would thank you for that!
Head tilts create an element of interest.
If it bends, bend it (arms/legs)
Study the character, planning is everything.
Ensure the hand placement is good (it’s the first thing Graham looks at before the face)
Edit out imperfections on the backdrop.
Keep the nose inside the cheek when shooting from a side angle.
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Use a model release, make sure the model is very clear about what the photos will be used for and that they are signing away and say.
All in all I picked up lots of useful tips that will help me the next time I have a go at portrait photography and with Grahams list of hints an tips, I’ll be sure to enter it into comp next time Graham is our judge. Hopefully he can’t fault his method, especially if I bribe him in baby oil!
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If you would like to join us, we are a friendly bunch and welcome new members. You can “Try before you buy!” and come for up to three sessions before you must join. A session costs £2.50 and membership is £30. We meet on a Wednesday 7.45pm and St Andrews Church, Winsford.
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Karen Swift
Press & Publicity Officer
MCCC
