Capturing a mood in your images is all about creating the feeling of being there, of taking the viewer to the location of the photo and imparting the feeling you had when the shot was taken. There are distinct elements and techniques that can be used to create mood depending on your genre of photography:
Family Portraits
Before you get started, think about what mood you want to convey (e.g. joy, happiness, solitude or nostalgia). In Cayman, one of the most obvious ways to create a specific mood is to use natural elements, like large rainfalls in summer, clouds, sunsets or deserted beaches. Think about the difference in mood of couple portrait in the golden sunset hour versus one at Stingray City in the bright blue seas versus children running through large rain puddles in your neighbourhood.
Food Photography
When it comes to creating the right mood for a restaurant or cafe, ask yourself if you want to convey a seasonal mood or a feeling for the place; a party feeling or one with a more intimate setting; or do you want to concentrate on the ingredients that inspire you? Based on what you decide, choose lights, backgrounds and props to suit that mood. If you want to create a warmer, homely mood, think darker plates, fabrics or wood elements. Another common option is a seasonal mood — spring, summer, autumn and winter all have their own characteristics which, combined with seasonal ingredients or recipes, are effective in their purpose to create an appropriate mood to make viewers identify with what they are looking at.
The below photos were created for the family restaurant Brussels Sprouts that serves homemade meals in a warm and cozy environment.
Corporate Portraits
While family and food photography seem obvious genres when considering mood, with personal branding or corporate portraits most people still think about the plain white headshot in a studio. These images still have their place, especially in larger businesses with the sole purpose of showing their entire staff complement, but they don’t reveal much about the individual. Your personal-branding portraits should reflect your story in a memorable way to cut through the noise and make you unique in your marketplace. To achieve that, an array of different elements can be leveraged to establish a certain feel: the composition, the cropping, hair and make-up, accessories, background and facial expression all play a role in the larger whole of the image.
As an example the headline photo is a corporate portrait of Provenance Properties Cayman Islands Sales Specialist Ewelina Cimring taken in one of the Residences at Seafire homes portrays a feeling of homeliness, warmth and approachability, while still displaying a sense of confidence and professionalism.
This article first appeared in the October, 2020 edition of Camana Bay Times.
