Three weeks into Don Giannatti’s 8 Week Portrait Class, and the level of work being produced by all participants is mind blowing great – take a look at the work posted for Week 2 and see for yourself! The inspiration for this week? Sarah Moon.

(At this point, we think it is fair to say that there is one running theme throughout these 8 weeks: these amazing photographers are / were creative geniuses. Each new week it is daunting to look at their work and know that we are working in their shadow – but that’s what this is all about!).

WEEK 3: Sarah Moon

First things first: Sarah Moon has a completely different style to the photographers studied in the previous weeks.  In a way, that makes it easier to shake off Karsh’s and Skrebneski’s style, turn the page, and allow the inspiration to come from her creative thinking.

Unlike Karsh or Skrebneski, Moon’s work does not even look pre-planned: as she says, she has been taking the same photo for years: a girl, a girl with a dress… well: wow! She does take that photo well!

Her photos are inspired by what she sees in the moment: the shapes and textures of the clothing are where she draws her inspiration from, and she matches everything else accordingly.  She is fearless in her compositions and has a huge sensibility for visual emotion of elements.

When it comes to lighting, Moon’s style is mainly inspired by natural lighting, and she isn’t afraid of dark places. She also enjoys playing with the light to bring texture over her vision.

Our takeaways:

Here’s a list of what we set out to do, based on Moon’s images:

• To create a textured light distribution that would carry the feel of natural lighting.
• To be inspired by the clothing, and being bold with framing and cropping.
• Play with textures and creative processing after the shoot to enhance the shot.

And here are the results:

Textured light:

Shooting a studio light with a 10º grid through a venetian blind creates texture on the light, for a moody feel:

Clothing inspired:

Next we tried to let the clothing inspire us and show us the way. This photo is all about the play between the hat, back of the dress, and the filtered, textured light that falls to darkness.

More textures:

Finally, we played with bold framing and the concept of additional post process work using texture overlays.

Coming up next week: Peter Lindbergh. Yes… it doesn’t get any easier!