My name is Sal Cincotta and I'm a wedding and portrait photographer based in O'Fallon, Illinois.
I have the best job in the world. I get to make great images for my clients every single day.
What could be better than that?
Recently, I have been travelling through Europe rebuilding my portfolio
in order to position Salvatore Cincotta Photography as a world-class studio.
First stop of our trip was in London. Prior to leaving the United States
we did a ton of research just looking for something unique.
In London they have these lavender fields about an hour outside the city.
They were in bloom; it was the perfect time of year and honestly, the perfect day.
When we rolled up on the scene the first thing I noticed were all the leading lines
that I just thought visually would drive me to whatever subject you'd put there.
But also I didn't want it to be a cliché shot either.
I wanted to make sure that we had something that was dynamic, something that was unique
and for this particular shoot we had Sophia who is about 3 years old
and we were instructing her to just run through the field.
We wanted to show that fluidity and definitely the dynamic nature of the field.
She nailed it. She just came running towards the camera and we are looking at that shot right now.
For the final shots Sophia was losing her patience as most kids do.
She just wanted to do her own thing and we kept trying to put her
where we wanted her but that is not always possible.
So finally, I just gave up and let her do what she wanted to do and this is how we got that last shot.
Most photographers tend to underestimate the importance of building strong portfolios.
In fact, it is one of the most important things we can do. It is why clients are drawn into our work.
Growing as a business, growing as an artist, they are fundamentally tied to building a strong portfolio.
Heading into Prague we had an amazing opportunity to work with a professional model
and the goal of the shoot was to get three different shots.
We wanted something that was more along the lines of glamour,
we wanted a wedding style in a unique location,
and then we wanted something in a black dress more along the lines of high fashion.
Some of the challenges if you have never been to Prague is that there are people everywhere.
It is probably one of the most tourist-y cities I have ever been to.
That presented it's own set of challenges because in order to get that shot
where it is seemingly isolated in a high traffic area was very difficult.
But working with a professional model, hair and makeup team and then of course
my own team with one single vision allowed all these shots to happen.
The final shot of the day was in front of the Prague Opera House and that was our must-have shot.
We wanted something that showcased the beautiful architecture
and the flowing body of Stania and this is the final shot.
My approach when photographing a wedding or portrait shoot
is to ensure that I'm getting the images that our clients hired us for.
This is typically based on our portfolio and what they are seeing on our website.
But the risk here is that our imagery becomes stale and as artists we become uninspired.
We have to ensure that we are continuously evolving as artists and as business owners
but at the same time satisfy our client base.
The catch-22 here is how do we execute on this seemingly contradictory task?
My mantra since we started this business 8 years ago has been to innovate or die.
Part of rebuilding your portfolio is embracing spontaneity and improvisation.
While in Prague we were driving from location to location and found this hidden forest.
A gorgeous location with trees everywhere. All these gorgeous leading lines.
We didn't have a model. We weren't ready to shoot. We pulled the car over and just improvised.
We grabbed wild flowers, we applied makeup.
We were dealing with lighting challenges so we were firing a strobe
into a reflector to soften the light to really match the scene.
Sometimes this is how you get pure magic for your portfolio
and it can really help you feel invigorated when it comes to your business and your photography.