When Shooting Streets It Gets Quiet: What To Do?

Geoff and I went to Lincoln, UK just a few days ago to shoot some street photography. The previous time we went there for a commercial shoot, it seemed like the city and the streets were vibrant and buzzing, mind you it was a Saturday evening so that may explain why going there on a mid-week afternoon may bring totally different results. But I was determined to go there anyway!

We walked the streets and nothing would catch our attention, even though it was quite busy. But the problem was, it was busy with families and middle-class couples or groups of friends who came to visit Lincoln and its boutique shops and cafes for a lovely and calm Saturday afternoon and evening, shopping for souvenirs, hot chocolate and muffins.

So, no crazy drunk people, no daring fashion-lovers in the middle of this historic city, no loud young teens… it all seemed far too coherent and mild mannered for what I was looking for. Walking through the city a few more times did not really give any results.

So, what do you do when you have mentally prepared yourself for a day out shooting and everything seems just too.. bland?

Well, the best decision seemed to simply pick one place, sit down, and allow for the city to happen around us, without moving through it too fast and possibly missing good shots.

We settled for a seating area in the middle of one of the main shopping streets. My attention was caught by a bin in front of me (yes, really), because one of my ongoing projects, called “Discarded”, looks at our society as one that disposes of everything and anything, and it seemed an ideal place to capture different people disposing of rubbish all in the same spot.

Meanwhile, Geoff’s project took on a different route – catching people’s legs (with a camera), as they walk past in a unison, or with nice movement, interesting shoes, and so on.

So, while we found ourselves immersed in our own projects, even though sat right next to each other, we actually started getting the shots that we had been looking for. And all that just because we settled in one place and let the action come to us.

No, I did not just photograph a rubbish bin all day. In fact, we ended up seeing things we otherwise may have passed by without noticing because they did not necessarily “jump out”, they just occurred next to us.

A big man, one that I could easily imagine as a lorry driver, sat next to us with his French bulldog, dressed in a purple outfit (the dog). Mind you, the man’s outfit was matching. The man seemed to be so gentle and loving to his dog, as if it was his baby. Cuddling and whispering something in his little ears, it all seemed so unusual for such a “manly” man, but it looked adorable.

After a good 15-20 minutes his wife and children came, clearly after having visited nearby shops, and the man did not seem as bothered about them as he had been about his pup!

Later on, someone dressed as a monster of sorts (something close to a fox or a wolf), jumped out of nowhere and gave us a few poses. I bet you, hiding in a costume you can let loose and do all sorts of things without feeling embarrassed!

Also, have you ever heard the “BIG ISSUE” man in your city? They all pretty much look the same and I swear they all sound the same. They try to push a (BIG) issue in your hands as you’re rushing on your way to work or the train station. Well, what we had near us was a “BIG TISSUE” man.

He held a tissue box sized XXL and kept announcing he’s giving out BIG TISSUE, with some of the passers-by actually taking one. He also thought we are from the government, taking photos of him.

And that’s just a few things we saw, all in one place.

Sometimes you have to stop searching for something unknown and instead sit down, listen to the city and see what you finds you.

What have you found? What has found you?

P.S. Want to go “searching” the streets with us? We do workshops in Paris & London – http://www.geoffpowell.co

Anete Lusina
http://www.anetelusina.com
http://www.europeanweddings.co
http://www.geoffpowell.co

Airbrushing Children Photography?

Having a quick flick through The Times whilst enjoying a cup of coffee in the local coffee shop, I could not help but notice an article about school photographers airbrushing images of children!

It read, “Photography firms, including Cardwell & Simons which works with more than 700 British schools, use tools such as Photoshop to change the pictures, airbrushing blemishes and untidy hair. They give parents the option to put circles on proof images to show how they would like them altered.”

Don’t we have enough pressure on having the “ideal” appearance from social media and magazines already?

How much is too much?

Even though Cardwell & Simons defend themselves by explaining that this is aimed at airbrushing temporary marks, such as a stain on the clothing or hair being untidy, but even so it opens up a chest with far too many risks and possibilities.

Once you start removing small blemishes on a child’s face, you might end up finding yourself in a situation where you’ve got rid of something that’s part of a child’s identity. Whether it is a small mole or any other imperfection, it’s still who they are.

School photography is not an extensive photography session, it’s merely a moment frozen in time in this particular child’s life. If one wishes a fashion or lifestyle session, there’s plenty of photographers who offer it and even then photographers should be wary of young people requesting drastic changes in their appearance in the imagery. \

Can’t they just let us be who we are without constantly reminding that there’s something “wrong” with us?

Anete Lusina
www.anetelusina.com
www.europeanweddings.co

 

Creative Working From Home: The Reality

How many times have we looked at our creative friends or celebrities on Instagram, and sighed at the fact that their life seems to be just so picture perfect?

How many times, whether you are a creative working from home or not, have you compared your life to those you see on social media? Can I just remind you, most of what you see is NOT real. Yes, the beautifully laid out desk with colour coordinated accessories is real in a sense that it exists but it’s not real if someone spent half an hour setting up the perfect light, looking for the right angle and arrangement of items just to get that one ideal picture, and then post-processed it or used filters to create an image suitable for a magazine.

In reality, our desks and lives are a lot more messy. We don’t always have the perfect light or the right angle, and we can waste far too much time trying to achieve the unattainable just for a few tens or hundreds of likes from people we’ll never see in reality.

 

So, what is the reality of a creative working from home?

1. Messy hours

Our working hours are not 9–5. We can make our working hours be 9–5 but our minds do not always agree with that. Our brain may work on a constant overdrive at midnight, but we might not be able to get up as early as office and other workers or to start productive work at 9.

It’s hard to set exact working hours when your emails keep coming in after 7PM, or when your client calls you at dinner time. It’s not easy to work on these boundaries and many of us struggle with it every day. It takes a lot of discipline to follow a healthy working schedule, because you just end up saying to yourself, ‘just this one last edit…’ far too many times!

Our schedule always depends on what projects we have on, which may be a crazy busy month shooting and editing weddings nonstop, but it could also be a quiet period with hardly any work. And when the latter occurs, there’s nothing harder than making yourself get out of bed early! You just want to stay under your cover until things fall back to a normal working order but we all know that’s not the best way to lead your professional life!

On the other hand, our messy schedules allows us to plan around things like doctor appointments or awaiting special deliveries during day.

So, when dealing with one us of, remember it can be hard to plan spending time with us over the weekend because many of us are on jobs, and our summer may be extremely busy if we’re shooting weddings, but on the other hand we may be up for a spontaneous lunch or coffee, because we’re our own bosses!

 

2. Appearance

Ideally, we’d want to always go to our “home office” dressed the way we would if we worked in an office alongside other creatives. Not only does it put you in the mindset of “this is work now”, but it might also make us feel better if we’re wearing something other than PJs or a hoodie and leggings.

But, when you’re working on your own at home looking after your appearance may become an exclusive treat that you afford only a few times a month.

For women, it may just be an ideal option — we have enough time in the day to put a face or hair mask on while we work on our projects, if we’re not expecting any clients on the day, and we can let our skin breathe having our faces free from make up.

So, what you see on Instagram — female entrepreneurs working from home in a nice outfit, blowdried and styled hair as well as full make up on… it’s not always the reality. When we have a lot of work on, there’s not always time for any of that. Don’t be fooled looking at social media, that’s not how you should look and you definitely shouldn’t strive for it, because what you should focus on is feeling good about yourself daily, with or without all of these things, and your business.

Don’t forget that. Happiness and business.
Stop feeling low looking at heavily styled and post-processed images.
Focus on what’s important.

 

You’ll never find me wearing this at home (I’m too lazy, unfortunately). Usually it’s glasses, messy hair, sweatshirt and jeggings.

3. Eating habits

Now, the way I see it, I imagine most creatives working from home will fall in one of these categories:

• The Lazy One.
  You will become so immersed in your latest project that you’ll simply forget to eat. If you live on your own, it gets worse because you won’t have someone reminding you that you need to eat, as you would if your partner came home for dinner. You’re probably too lazy to go out for lunch, too. I usually fall into this category. But, I am trying to be better and have lunch at lunch time not at dinner time, and make sure I have a few healthy snacks in the house that I can grab when I am starting to feel hungry but it’s not really a meal time yet. Also, don’t forget to drink liquids! Have a cup of tea or a bottle of water on your desk and keep refilling.
• The Comfort Eater.
  Opposite to the previous one, the Comfort Eater will stack up with snacks when they know they have an important deadline coming up, or simply keep filling up their snack bowl every day, keeping it within an easy reach on their desk. It’s far too easy to forget just how much you’ve eaten when you keep reaching for that one more piece of chocolate or granola bar, whilst dealing with a complicated or a boring project. It’s almost like procrastinating with social media. If your day goes quicker when you have something to snack on, it’s best to plan for it weekly, rather than running to the local corner shop for a supply of sweets. Have healthy snacks all ready for the next day, and your waistline won’t suffer!
• The Sensible One.
  Someone who knows just how easy it is to fall in bad eating habits when you’re all by yourself day in, day out, so they plan for it. Meals and snacks are thought about early enough, so there are no surprises. Don’t we just wish, we’d be this sensible?
• The Spender.
  Someone who’ll find any excuse to take their laptop into town and have a nice lunch and a cup of coffee alongside. Sometimes it’s nice to escape the routine and work from a coffee shop or a lunch bar, but it all comes at a cost (literally). Don’t spend all your hard earned money on eating out everyday!
• The Mix.
  Of course there’ll be someone who’s a little bit of something, depending on the day. You might be “good” when you’re working from home, but end up binging on party food when working a wedding. Or you may struggle keeping a good eating schedule when you’re on your own, but eat healthy when you go and treat yourself to a nice lunch in town.

 

From a couple’s lifestyle shoot.

4. Social Life

When you look at celebrities or the so called “Instagram celebrities”, or even your own friends on social media, it might seem that all creatives do is:
– spend their days taking photos for social media
– visit exhibitions and galleries
– go to parties meeting other creatives
– travel
– drink coffee and read fashion / design / interior books
– meet clients over lovely lunches

Reality is, most of us don’t have a lot of time or money for that. We may have our meetings or occassional invite for an opening night of someone’s latest project, but that’s only a small part of what we actually do. Most weeks we may end up spending it all by ourselves writing a book, editing a video or wedding photography, creating a graphic design order for a client or building a nice website. And sometimes it can actually feel quite lonely when you don’t have a colleague to go out for lunch with, or a group of work friends to have a Friday drink with.

In fact, when 9–5 workers finish their week, our work may actually pick up and we may have to keep declining invites for a Friday night out, which might make it seem that we’re anti-social, but reality is that our work life is just a tad more unpredictable.

But to make up for that, we do get to meet crazy, inspiring, artistic, hard working and extraordinary people! I have met quite a few along the way, and wouldn’t change it for anything!

 

BTS from a shoot in Biarritz, France.

5. Lifestyle & Finance

OK, so it may somtimes seem that the lifestyle and social life is quite glamorous for creatives. But, even if we do deal with clients who have a more lavish lifestyle it doesn’t mean that we suddenly have all of that, too. You will not be able to afford Louboutins and a spacious loft in the city centre à la Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & The City, whilst you’re working as a freelance writer for a magazine. It takes a lot of patience, money and effort to get the business going, and it can take years for it to actually take off.

There’s nothing wrong about creating a life and an environment that inspires you, but there is no need to beat yourself up for not having the same lifestyle as other creatives in the same field as you. They may already have an up and running business and spare cash to spend on it, or they may simply come from a more wealthy family, making things a lot easier.

Be mindful about this and don’t fall in the trap of spending what you don’t have to show it to others whose life it actually has no impact on. Focus on your skills and talent, not on impressing others. The money and the clients will follow!

So, as a creative working from home, how do you make it work? What are your tips and advice for others?

Does your other half support your daily grind?

Anete
http://www.europeanweddings.co
http://www.anetelusina.com

 

Mad dash across France

“Why don’t we book a train instead of a plane to have a relaxing journey through France?”, the famous last words by Geoff, a photographer I work with closely on projects encompassing just about everything (from food photography to nude art).

Our journey goal was to get from Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, to Biarritz, South West France just in time for our photography workshop.

This was our destination. Totally worth all the sweat, pain and discomfort.

But, before we set our foot into one of the trains, we already saw our first hiccup – Geoff accidentally booked our train for the wrong date! Grumpy and unhappy, he paid the £150 fee to change our date.

It could have been worse, right? We could have got to London, waiting for our Eurostar train, only to realise we have the wrong tickets and cannot get through!

Anyway, happens to everyone at some point. So, still fairly excited we embarked on our trip, by driving to East Midlands Parkway train station, where we’d park up, grab our bags and wait for our first train to London. Because Eurostar departed London at 5:40AM the next morning, we had no other option but to catch the latest train into London and sit about for almost 5 hours waiting for our early morning departure.

“Our comfy arm-chairs will let you lose yourself in a book and relax…” read the 24/7 Starbucks cafe description at St. Pancras train station in London. Because it was one of the only places open through the night, it sounded perfect. I could read my book, have a cup of coffee, and let the time fly…

… until we arrived and found out there is not a single arm-chair, let alone a chair with a cushioned back, it was all hard wood stools and benches. Not everyone minded it though, some travellers found themselves sound asleep across the tables, but the only spaces available did not even have a back rest so we opted for another coffee place that was closing, but allowed its customers to remain in the seating area until 1AM.

Now let me tell you – 5 hours is a bloody long time to spend in an empty, closed train station. We tried reading newspapers and books, we tried keeping ourselves up with a few cups of coffee, walking around the station and then to a nearby shop for a few snacks and drinks only to pass the time, and I just wish I had brought a movie (or two, actually) for us to watch!

Surprisingly,we went through security and passport control with no trouble. Previously, we have had all sorts of odd questions, some of them being what is my relationship to Geoff, who am I travelling with, and so forth.

Is that inappropriate or is it just me? Can’t a young European female travel on her own anymore, and why having an older male accompanying her be considered suspicious?

Mind you, if people looked in our suitcases they’d find all sorts of suspicious things that we use as props for shooting and some eyebrows might be raised.

Now, the real journey began! Over two hours on Eurostar got us into Paris Montparnasse Train Station, and because the train was slightly delayed we had less than an hour to get across Paris with our luggage to catch our next train!

So, taxi was an obvious choice.

A cheeky looking French man met us at the taxi rank, asking us if we need one and where we’re going. “Gare Du Nord?”, we’d ask. Our request was met with a worried look, “you don’t have a lot of time. Metro will take too long. I can take you but I will have to be very fast.” (and he was, indeed!)

Unfortunately, I looked nothing like this. I looked run down with no make up, with glasses on and wearing clothes that I had not changed  for the past 12 hours.

“How much?”
“90 Euros”
“90 Euros????”
“Do you want to get there on time?..”

And so we got in the taxi, but with a request “please put seatbelt on”, he’d warn us.

Have you ever wanted to feel like in a movie, by jumping in a taxi and yelling “follow that car!” with all the excitement that follows?

Well, that’s exactly how it felt for us in his taxi. We’d cut corners, we’d cut queues, we’d dash across the road with some daring people still trying to run across the road in front of us, risking their lives. But the funny thing is, nobody seemed to mind.

Is this how Parisians drive? Was this just a regular taxi drive in Paris? As someone who is learning to drive herself, I almost had to cover my eyes as we drove just millimetres from touching another car!

Also, are all French men great at multitasking?

Our taxi driver managed to go on his phone, find out which train is ours and which platform it will depart from all the while still manoeuvring around the busy streets of Paris, and he did not even care about the traffic when he turned around in his driver seat facing us, showing us on his phone exactly where we have to go at the station, while others began honking at us.

We found our carriage with 4 minutes to spare. As we left the taxi, he’d hush us “Quick, run!” as he crumpled up the 90 euros we gave him.

So, that was my first impression of Paris – I saw the tower, I saw the bridge, I rolled from one side on the taxi seat to the other, I saw lots of little streets, cafes, and beautiful architecture.

On our way back we had more time between the two train times and as such we took metro.

Also, have you seen how tiny their metro tickets are?!

It cost us 3 euros.

Only 3 bloody euros. 

But it was nowhere near as exciting.

 

Want to know more about me? Find me on:
www.anetelusina.com
www.europeanweddings.co
https://www.facebook.com/anetelusinaphotography/

Claire & Phil

A while ago I saw a love story come true for Claire and Phil, a wonderfully loving couple that are just a perfect match for one another. Their lovely family saw Claire and Phil make their promises and vows at a spacious church, ideal for Scott Carney and myself, as we covered the ceremony.

The beautiful old church doors were a perfect background to quickly grab a few shots of Claire and Phil straight after the ceremony, before the guests followed us ready for that very important confetti shot!

They were just the perfect couple for a short intimate photography session just for the two of them – cuddly, loving and relaxed they posed very freely, such a treat to us, photographers!

The celebrations took place at a beautifully laid out venue in a soft cream colour theme – from the table cloths, to the chairs and the curtains and drapes. With plenty of space for us to move around, the guests used it as well as they all joined in on the dance floor later on, with Claire taking the lead with her girl friends!

It’s always such a pleasure to see the bride and groom having lots of fun rather than feeling drained and tired, and these two certainly had the energy to keep going all day!

Want to find out more about my work?
Come visit me on www.europeanweddings.co 

 

Natural Portraiture

In the age of technology, I am all for combining the natural features and aspects of humankind with technology to bring out the natural beauty with tools that allow me to do so. Yes, we see all sorts of visual enhancements of people through our everyday media – TV, magazines, Internet, however, I refuse to drastically alter my subject’s appearance.

I refuse to get rid of features that make my models THEM. Small distractions can go, but I make my portrait photography about the people, and people have imperfections that in the end of my post-processing work I want to bring out and show as beautiful.

This time I had the opportunity to shoot two beautiful young women – Diana Kopmane & Anta Grinvalde. The former, a full time Latvian model, currently resides in Denmark, while Anta, a choreographer and a dancer, is based in Latvia. It was so lovely to come together with women who embody such natural beauty, women who are connected with nature.

I cannot get enough of portraiture shot outside, whatever the weather, because people, and women in this case, do not live in white empty studios. Women live in cities, countryside and villages. Women have emotions, personalities and thoughts.

Let me capture yours! 🙂
Anete Lusina
http://www.anetelusina.com
http://www.europeanweddings.co
http://www.am-studios.org.uk

Alone

How often do we find ourselves ‘alone’? So alone the big nameless and faceless crowds of people just rush right past us without even throwing a single glance towards us. We could so easily disappear amongst the masses and more often than not we do.

Even being a part of the crowd, one of the white sheep in the big herd, it might seem all so continuous and homogeneous, but don’t we all get the sense of loneliness, even if we are surrounded by people and things? Don’t we all sometimes want to stop in the middle of the street and turn around to pave our own path, one that hasn’t got our and everyone else’s footprints all over it yet.

Being alone is the time for you to recharge, regain your strength and your will to keep on going in life. Without me-time, you’ll notice you’ll slowly start losing parts of yourself, the little cogs within you that keep you alive mentally and physically.

Make sure your alone time is of good quality because we’re stuck with ourselves for the rest of our life, regardless who comes in and out of it and therefore being kind to ourselves is a must. Treat yourself like a dear friend of yours, one that needs attention and love.

I’m one of those people who can happily spend majority of time by themselves, whether it is healthy or not I cannot say, but it’s something I want my Alone project to reflect. It is okay to be on your own, it is perfectly fine to enjoy your space and it certainly is alright to lose the need for justifying your need for peace and quiet all by yourself.

Don’t forget to be good to yourself.
Anete Lusina
http://www.anetelusina.com
http://www.europeanweddings.co
http://www.am-studios.org.uk

Relaxing low-key wedding

Congratulations to the lovely Charlotte & Craig on their beautiful wedding. Nelly Naylor Photography and I had the honour to photograph their union in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

The minimalistic simplicity of this ceremony is what makes the photographer realise that sometimes it’s truly about love, not about fancy or extravagant paraphernalia or never-ending guest list of people you have not seen in years and are unlikely to have time to engage with during your big day anyway.

The warmth and sweetness flowed throughout the day as the couple made their vows. I particularly love the beautiful veil Charlotte wore, a family heirloom, with very intricate detail that really finished off the bride’s look.

Some times you have to improvise and use what you have, even if it is just a large brick wall and some greenery. But because it is about the love, the focus was never on distracting surroundings. The focus was on the smiles, the looks, the hugs and the kisses.

Anete Lusina
http://www.europeanweddings.co
http://www.anetelusina.com
http://www.am-studios.org.uk

 

Contemporary children photography

I want to break the misconception that children photography has to be shot in a studio! Taking kids to where they enjoy themselves most will show in the images instead of asking them to pose whilst you seat them on a chair in front of a large (and intimidating) light set up. Let kids be kids, and capture their joy and energy!

Keeping children preoccupied with games or activities either by themselves or with their siblings or friends will ensure that you do not intimidate them with your camera, and neither will they intimidate you because all you need to do is give brief guidelines, e.g ‘Shall we go over there?’, ‘How about if you sit down on that bench?’ etc.

Keep it relaxed and informal, because as a portrait or lifestyle photographer you want to capture their personalities not fake smiles or poses! 🙂

Anete Lusina
http://www.anetelusina.com
http://www.europeanweddings.co
http://www.am-studios.org.uk

Photographing a photographer

I must have a thing for photographing photographers, seeing as I am doing a book on some lovely and inspiring people who shoot regularly or not that often, but whose blood is filled with passion for art.

To add some more images for my chapter about Nelly Naylor from Nelly Naylor Photography, I just needed a few more portraits. Just a few more images of Nelly being herself, natural and enjoying her time with the camera.

The images for the book will be edited differently, but so far I did not mind editing a few to send Nelly as a thanks for her time. Something to show people that I do enjoy shooting in colour too!

Sometimes we tend to think about photographers based on what they’ve shot and inevitably liking or disliking them for the work they’ve produced, but I want to shoot them for who they are, what drives them and that spark in their eyes as they keep on doing what they love so much.

Anete Lusina
http://www.anetelusina.com
http://www.europeanweddings.co
http://www.am-studios.org.uk