As promised here is the lovely #bokeh headshot with the amazing local artist Arlene Marks. I knew we had something special while planning to shoot this! It took a long time because of the complexities of the concept. Arlene was awesome through a long photography session mostly sitting in the dark with bright lights in her face, a little like an interrogations scene in a movie! It was 100% worth it though. What we ended up with is a unique headshot that shows Arlene's character. It also creates a little curiosity about her business and is very visually interesting, just like her work! It is unique to her and her work. I don't do cookie-cutter solutions, every client is unique and special. It is why my portfolio is so bonkers, everyone is different and requires different photography! #mathieudecodtsphotography
photography
Black and White Abstract Wall Art now available, shop local!
So I talked a little about my artwork in my youth before. I was always a big fan of the abstract and the surreal. I was also really interested in reflections and installation art.
My love of the abstract carried on into my photography and when I get the chance I like to make abstract art with my photographs. This might seem weird, I mean how can photography be abstract?
Part of my fascination with this is that making abstract photographs is a challenge. I have always had an eye for the abstract. I see things differently than most folks, I think it is because of my inability to see properly for all of my childhood, only getting glasses when I became a teenager taught me to look for patterns shapes before looking for detail because for me there was none.
Anyway I mention it today because I also do abstract photography, it is a very niché thing but some of my work is available to buy now at the Puffin Gallery Ballycastle! Lots of other great local artist's work there too, please support local, both the gallery and us artists!
#mathieudecodtsphotography
New content series coming!
Hey folks,
Just a quick post to say that this week I am starting two new series of content. On Wednesdays I will post some tips for beginner photographers, “Wednesday Wisdom” and on Sunday “Secret Sunday” where I will share a location from around Northern Ireland that is very beautiful for a portrait shoot but underappreciated or unknown.
Any locations or tips you want me to feature let me know!
Photography Field Trip Class Sun, 18 August 2019 10:00 – 15:00 BST
Capture some of Belfast's most iconic locations on this relaxed photography tour lead by a professional photographer, Mathieu Decodts. You'll learn how to take the best shots, frame images with your lens and how to manipulate lighting to your advantage and more as you make your way through Belfast's Lagan Weir area.
You will need a camera with the ability to change between Program, Aperture, Shutter and Manual mode, like a DSLR, bridge or mirrorless camera. You will also need a “can do” attitude and a desire to improve as we will learn and practice together during the day. The content will be tailored to the needs of the group, but above all, will be entertaining, thought-provoking and fun.
The length of the class will be five hours in total. Two hours shooting in the area to begin. Followed by a one-hour break to review and discuss pictures, Q&A your photography problems and get to know each other. We will then finish up with two more hours shooting in the area to put this into practice.
The easiest place to park is in the corner nearest the weir at the SSE Arena and that is the start point for the walk. I will be there, wearing a LED badge.
Cost: £50
Please book with me on the phone, 07762 822022 to pay on the day or via Eventbrite to pay online with credit or debit card
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/photography-field-trip-class-tickets-67174501743
Links also on my facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/MathieuDecodtsPhotography/
Follow and like the page to keep up-to-date with future classes and events.
#mathieudecodtsphotography
Talking about my art background
So after the poll on facebook was 50/50 split between Makeup skill and art background I decided to talk about my art background as I haven’t really talked about it before at all. With this video looking back at my old school artwork I can see how it influences my photography today. Have a watch and let me know if you have any questions.
Photography Advice: my thought process in taking an interesting shot
So first up big thanks to those who turned up to the photography walk/class yesterday. We were very lucky to have a warm and dry day here in Northern Ireland. They are sadly not that common. It is lush and green here because it rains a lot.
When we started I asked what my fellow photographers where interested in shooting and learning and tried to tailor the class around that.
One of the things I wanted to show was how a little time and thinking can create more interesting shots. I took everyone over to the "big fish"
It is big, it is a fish, this is about the most boring shot you can take of it. Also what most tourists do.
So I told them all to take this shot, and then set them the challenge of shooting something more interesting over a 10-15 minute period.
While I was talking to one attendee I mentioned a lot of tourists photograph themselves kissing the big fish and thought it might be cool to have the big fish kiss something instead.
So I positioned the big fish in such a way that it was a foreground element, out of focus. My thought process was, it's so iconic, even without any detail the colours and outline alone would say "big fish" and I could instead focus on what I wanted it to "kiss". In my head I figured another big landmark here, one of our H&W cranes, Goliath I believe.
This was my first attempt, but I wasn't happy. The fish was too in focus and the implied kiss wasn't obvious enough. So I repositioned and shot again (I was using a prime lens so had to move about, more on that later).
Much happier this time. There were some distracting elements in the frame, but I knew I could sort those out in post processing. This here is straight from the camera, and I promised an attendee I would show my editing process and thoughts on editing so that is what follows.
First up I corrected the colours and contrast a little, to emphasise the complementary blue in the fish and yellow in the crane. The lens I used was a 50-year-old manual focus nifty fifty f2 lens I bought the previous Sunday at the legendary Crumlin Road Car boot sale. It cost me £8 after a bit of haggling and came with an old 35mm camera body attached and a teleconverter. I wasn't worried if the camera worked or not because I knew I could adapt the lens to my Sony mirrorless camera. I specifically used this lens to try and teach something else.
Gear is just gear! Knowing how to use what you have is FAR more important than owning nice gear. Hopefully this article will teach that too. Now onto more fine tinkering.
I only removed one thing here, can we play spot the difference? You should be able to see it immediately if you look between this picture and the previous one. Colour theory teaches that red is the most eye-catching colour, and orange a close second. The marker buoy! It was extremely distracting to my eye, and might have been the first thing your eyes moved to when looking at the original picture. Now it's gone it changes the focus of the picture.
Next up, what I like to call border patrol. I didn't coin this phrase but it helps me remember it so I use it. It is the process of looking around the edges of your frame and thinking about distractions etc. I do this in the viewfinder while shooting, and I made a mental note to sort the vignette caused by the old lens and the tops of the bollards in the very bottom of the frame.
Last but not least I considered the picture as a whole. I looked at the sky and realised it wasn't how I saw it on the day, too much detail was lost because a camera can never capture the colour depth and dynamic range of a human eye. I wanted to recover some of the detail in the clouds so darkened down the sky. I also wanted to sharpen the H&W on the crane, so did that too.
While doing this I also considered the crop, I wondered what it would be like with a portrait orientation so tried a few different crops and settled on this. Very different but equally as nice.
Hopefully you found this interesting, few folks online talk about the artistic process of photography, what goes on in the head of the artist. For me it's far more important than any gear or techy considerations and hopefully taking a picture with a 50-year-old junk lens and showing you how I thought it through has illustrated that. If you like the article please feel free to share it or request other topics on my facebook page. A like would be appreciated too ;) #mathieudecodtsphotography
Story behind the shot: Number 6
This shoot was based on an idea a model friend had. She was inspired by another photoshoot she had seen with balloons in the background.
I hate just doing a shoot with random elements, I like these photography collaborations to be themed around a story. So we set about thinking up a story of why someone would be in a lovely dress and have balloons. I suggested a jilted girl, stood up on a big prom date. She would be dressed up fancy, with lovely hair and makeup and the balloons could have been an extravagant present like folks do on American prom dates.
So we set about planning. After searching locally for something suitable I ended up buying lots of red heart-shaped balloons on the internet. While we waited for them to arrive, from China if I remember rightly, we worked on the other elements. The model decided on a lovely little black dress with diamond accents and we both hunted for an urban location that could match our “stood up” prom date idea.
We finally decided on a landmark in Belfast, the “big fish” at the Lagan Weir in Belfast. The Belfast City Council had recently finished redeveloping the area around it with a nice urban park with some nice shrubbery and benches.
So to the day of the shoot, we both arrived at our agreed meeting spot, a cafe next to the landmark. The model had brought a party canister of Helium to fill the balloons and I had them and some ribbon. We both got a coffee and set about filling the balloons.
Never underestimate the preparations that go into a shoot. The model spent a lot of time on her hair, makeup and dress. And I spent a lot of time finding a location. Then on the day, it took us a good hour or two to fill the balloons! By the time we were finished the normally murky Northern Ireland weather had taken a turn for the worse. It didn’t rain too badly but the wind picked up substantially so my idea to light the shoot with an 8-foot umbrella had to be abandoned. We tried to make do with other lighting but the wind was so strong one of the key elements of the shoot, the big mass of balloons, just wasn’t working.
We decided to get another coffee and rethink, which is when the article head shot and this one were taken. I really like the portfolio shot because the model looks a little down heartened and upset, the outcome of being stood up? or the result of trying to shoot out in the wind and the rain in a thin evening dress?
While inside we spoke to the owner of the boat tours place next to the coffee shop who ended up offering us their boat to shoot on.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth we decided why not? The boat location would explain the windswept nature of the shoot at least. So we both did our first ever boat based shoot.
Shooting on the Lagan river on a windy day is a whole other adventure.
So the moral of this story? There is a lot of planning that goes into these type of shoots, but the real skill of being a professional photographer is being able to problem solve quickly. I had to change my location plan because of the weather and an unforeseen opportunity and my lighting equipment too but still got beautiful shots. I hope you like them. If you want to have your own story to tell get in touch. If you have a cool idea for a photography shoot I can make it happen. #mathieudecodtsphotography
Story behind the shot: Number 5
I really enjoy helping people feel better about themselves. Being a photographer allows me to get the best out of them when I shoot. People frequently focus on a lot of perceived negatives during a portrait session. Problems they have with their appearance, they always surprise me, normally a tiny little thing nobody would notice. Folks also get hung up on attributes that frequently others would kill for.
This beautiful lady was a relaxing after a “formal” shoot with another photorgapher. We were talking about her hair of all things. Very much like my wife she is blessed with very beautiful, naturally wavy hair. Now of course she was complaining about how hard it is to manage.
This is something that always surprises me. I always see the beauty in everyone I shoot and frequently they don't themselves. For example women with beautiful shiny straight hair want curly hair. Women with voluminous curly hair see straight hair and want that. And women like my wife and this lovely lady with vibrant naturally wavy hair are not happy with it either.
I told her how my wife handles it, basically she washes it and then lets it air dry, and never ever brushes it! I always thought it was weird my wife didn't brush her hair until one day I offered to romantically brush it for her and it turned into an afro of sorts!
But I digress, I convinced this lovely lady to embrace the volume in her hair. Isn't it beautiful? She has a lovely smile of course too but her hair is so beautiful. I posed her and we took a few different shots to capture a relaxed headshot emphasising her natural asset, her hair.
So are you happy with your hair? I hope so, love the skin or hair you have been blessed with. #mathieudecodtsphotography