Collaboration Over Competition
This photo shoot was actually a collaboration between myself and another photographer named Martin Lowenthal back in 2020. Martin and I knew each other because we were both part of a group of photographers years ago that would get together and discuss photography topics so that we could all learn from each other. He reached out to me and told me that he had a model, Nia, and just needed a shooting space and wanted me to do the lighting for the particular concept.
This was probably my most complicated black and white setup to date. I think all in all I end up ended up using six different lights. Nia came with another friend of hers and so myself, Martin, Nia and the Nia’s friend all came up with different pose ideas.
Martin and I took turns shooting and we also did our own edits. If you compare his to mine you can tell that even with the same lighting and the same model on the same day, you can get wildly different results.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve never minded sharing locations with other photographers. So much of photography is more than just a location; it has everything to do with your own style. The example I give a lot of newer photographers, when they’re asking me about it, is the backdrop example. How many different ways can people use a white paper backdrop and still create something completely different from the next photographer? If you can get that much variety with something as simple as a white paper backdrop then you have nothing to worry about when it comes to other locations.
I am a firm believer in collaboration over competition.
