Photographer Challenges Herself To Shoot In ‘Ugly’ Location, And Results Prove That It’s All About The Skill
Pro and amateur photographers see different things when they look at the same place, and this story proves that professionals can work wonders even with minimal resources. To challenge herself, Jenna Martin took her camera and her portrait photography model to Lowe’s: “Instead of searching out the usual beautiful locations around where we live, I had the idea to do just the opposite,” she wrote on PetaPixel. “I wanted to go somewhere ‘ugly’ by all conventional photography standards and then see what we could do with it. Lowe’s seemed like the perfect option.”
“For this ugly location challenge, I wanted somewhere with horrible lighting and limited backdrops. Somewhere that made absolutely no sense for a photoshoot idea.” Before she started shooting, Martin set herself some rules:
1) They had to work with whatever was already there. The photographer brought just her camera, without any artificial lighting or props;
2) They couldn’t rearrange the displays or make any big changes to photo backgrounds;
3) They’d stop shooting if anyone else was in the background.
“As soon as we walked in an employee asked if they could help us and I asked, “We were just going to take a few photos, is that okay?” He replied, “Of course! I was just wondering why she was so overdressed for a trip to the hardware store!” Martin and her model had about an hour before the store closed, so they began their photoshoot in narrow and wide aisles, against paint samples and trees.
“Overall, this was a really fun challenge! Not that I’d invite an actual client to ever do a Lowe’s photoshoot (I mean, never say never), but I was pretty happy with these cool photos! Horrible location for the win! Next time you see an awful spot, maybe give it a chance, you never know what you might end up with.”
More info: jennamartinphotography.com | Instagram | Model’s Instagram (h/t petapixel)
“Instead of searching out the usual beautiful locations around where we live, I had the idea to do just the opposite”
Image credits: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
“Lowe’s seemed like the perfect option” Location 1: The Paint Samples
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Lowe’s Location 2: The Lighting Section
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Lowe’s Location 3: The Aisles
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Location Shot: Aisle 2
Lowe’s Location 4: The Garden Section
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Lowe’s Location 5: Pillows Section
“Horrible location for the win!”
The locations are beautiful ? And also, I liked some of the unedited versions more than the edited ones.
yeah... don't forget the beautiful girl are big part of beautiful portrait. even at a ugly place a beautiful girl do the trick
So all you need is a gorgeous girl to take professional good-looking pictures? If that's you're trying to say, you clearly haven't seen enough pictures. Besides, she's not even that pretty (sorry, but beauty is subjective). She's definitely photogenic and she has nice poses, but her beauty is not universal. There is much more to be said about the photographer's skill in a "dull location" (and if it doesn't look like it it's because of his experience on picking spots and angles), the editing and the camera itself than the girl/model.
Load More Replies...Absolutely no surprise that the photographer could create nice photos anywhere using good framing skills and photo editing software. You can make anything look magical! And the only location I would consider "ugly" is the warehouse. All the others have beautiful color and light patterns, so they were great places for photos. Now, my question is... Why does the model grab her hair all the time? It looks like she's checking it for lice...
Ugly location. The only reason this can just about be pulled off is thanks to the good looks of the model. You could probably stick her on a mountain of rubbish and it would look ok. [Oh after shooting with a small aperture to get a hell of a lot of bokeh so you can't even figure out what it is]. Stupid article.
And that. But carefull of the White knight army here. If your opinion isn't in line with the one in the article then you usually get downvoted. :p
Load More Replies...Actually... these aren't really all that good.. It is true that many locations which to the average person seem uninteresting can be made interesting by framing correctly using a different angle/height. Like this: 2c4aac837d...graphy.jpg
Or 6ad85756bb...graphy.jpg
But these are like THE worst examples of that. It's like his best try is with the paint labels. And even that one is unimaginative. If it's practice he or she should continue.
You are missing the point of the article. The point is the point (decent backdrops are everywhere), not these specific photos themselves. Also, the examples you gave have zero to do with the point of the article since both locations you show could not possibly be more standard when it comes to locations and this article was about doing the exact opposite. Also, instead of constructive criticism you are just being an a*****e. Capitalizing "THE"? Seriously? That says way more about you than it does about these photos and this photographer.
Load More Replies...So much negativity. I liked the pics, and kudos for just posing at Lowes haha they came out beautifully:)
You make it seem as if not liking something is a mean and bad thing. It's NOT. It's an opinion and you are allowed to have and voice one if you don't curse or threaten people. Same as you are allowed to voice this praising opinion of yours. It's not right or wrong. It's an OPINION.
Load More Replies...Wonder what they thought when they saw some lady in a sparkly dress and heels walking around the store?
Load More Replies...I don't see horible location. A photographer see the beauty in every place. Plus... the model is a pro ;-)
The locations are beautiful ? And also, I liked some of the unedited versions more than the edited ones.
yeah... don't forget the beautiful girl are big part of beautiful portrait. even at a ugly place a beautiful girl do the trick
So all you need is a gorgeous girl to take professional good-looking pictures? If that's you're trying to say, you clearly haven't seen enough pictures. Besides, she's not even that pretty (sorry, but beauty is subjective). She's definitely photogenic and she has nice poses, but her beauty is not universal. There is much more to be said about the photographer's skill in a "dull location" (and if it doesn't look like it it's because of his experience on picking spots and angles), the editing and the camera itself than the girl/model.
Load More Replies...Absolutely no surprise that the photographer could create nice photos anywhere using good framing skills and photo editing software. You can make anything look magical! And the only location I would consider "ugly" is the warehouse. All the others have beautiful color and light patterns, so they were great places for photos. Now, my question is... Why does the model grab her hair all the time? It looks like she's checking it for lice...
Ugly location. The only reason this can just about be pulled off is thanks to the good looks of the model. You could probably stick her on a mountain of rubbish and it would look ok. [Oh after shooting with a small aperture to get a hell of a lot of bokeh so you can't even figure out what it is]. Stupid article.
And that. But carefull of the White knight army here. If your opinion isn't in line with the one in the article then you usually get downvoted. :p
Load More Replies...Actually... these aren't really all that good.. It is true that many locations which to the average person seem uninteresting can be made interesting by framing correctly using a different angle/height. Like this: 2c4aac837d...graphy.jpg
Or 6ad85756bb...graphy.jpg
But these are like THE worst examples of that. It's like his best try is with the paint labels. And even that one is unimaginative. If it's practice he or she should continue.
You are missing the point of the article. The point is the point (decent backdrops are everywhere), not these specific photos themselves. Also, the examples you gave have zero to do with the point of the article since both locations you show could not possibly be more standard when it comes to locations and this article was about doing the exact opposite. Also, instead of constructive criticism you are just being an a*****e. Capitalizing "THE"? Seriously? That says way more about you than it does about these photos and this photographer.
Load More Replies...So much negativity. I liked the pics, and kudos for just posing at Lowes haha they came out beautifully:)
You make it seem as if not liking something is a mean and bad thing. It's NOT. It's an opinion and you are allowed to have and voice one if you don't curse or threaten people. Same as you are allowed to voice this praising opinion of yours. It's not right or wrong. It's an OPINION.
Load More Replies...Wonder what they thought when they saw some lady in a sparkly dress and heels walking around the store?
Load More Replies...I don't see horible location. A photographer see the beauty in every place. Plus... the model is a pro ;-)































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