(gentle music)
- Hi, my name is Minh,
I'm a photographer from California
and my specialty is capturing architecture, lifestyle,
and just beautiful moments that's all around us.
So here we are in a community college,
and I think this is a great place
for us to find some amazing locations and unexpected things.
So what I'd like to do is usually just walk through
and just observe the spaces,
not necessarily taking any photo yet.
I can use my iPhone and just capture little snippets,
little vignettes that I see.
Usually, I don't pay attention to the entire building
but just the smaller moments within the structure
or within a space that speak to me.
It could be the light, it could be the shadow,
it could be small compositions
that just strikes an interest.
So let's just go and see what we can find.
I think this building is really interesting.
It has an amazing line and angles,
and I think this could make a really great image.
For example, if you take a typical shot
maybe looking something like this,
but if you zoom in and if you isolate the elements
and just focus on those angles and line,
you get a totally different, more graphic image
such as this one.
And you can also pay attention to the smaller details
such as the light and shadow.
For example, this bench here, it's very sculptural
and I think that could be very, very interesting.
So pay attention to things that are large-scale
as well as smaller.
Look far and the close.
I use my iPhone a lot to sketch before I actually do a shoot
because it's just a quick way
to test out different compositions
without committing to a full-frame, high-res image.
It's just much more flexible and nimble as a tool.
I think by going up,
you get a whole new different perspective.
For example, you can see the largest space.
And as you get closer,
you can isolate the elements into fewer elements
and it becomes more graphically strong.
I think I'll come back here
and do a shoot, maybe with the model,
and I think it'd be a great image.
I really like this angle
because it's really dynamic off of this diagonal line.
I think diagonal line always make your image
feels a lot more exciting and alive.
So I feel like this strong diagonal
is going to really make the image more, more impactful
especially I'm going to introduce the model walking
through the space to give the sense of scale.
Also, just to give it a sense of story.
It feels like it could be a train station
or it's like a scene of a movie.
I mean, you can play all the scenarios in your head,
create a storyline.
And so I think this character could be like something
that you could add to make the image more exciting.
I'm using a zoom lens here, a 24-70,
that allows me to take in quite a large image.
However, I'm going to bring it a little closer
just make this dynamic diagonal shape
as the main element in the photo,
and I'm going to have the model walk
through this element there.
(shutter clicking)
Yeah, I think that's cool.
I'm just going to have her stand there
just to give a more moody feel.
And I feel like sometime
when the subject is just standing there
and having this kind of tranquil moment,
it gives a really nice calm mood to the image.
Really nice.
I'm also going to capture the image without the model.
One of the things that I think
that makes for a very interesting image
is you don't have to always have the focus of the frame
in the center of the image.
You can shift the focus to the side
and use more negative space.
For example, this.
So instead of focusing on the object or the building itself,
you can focus on the connection
like how the different materials meet,
how the edges of the building meet something else.
It could be the building meets the sky,
the building meets the ground,
but that connection is a really interesting thing
to focus on instead of the object itself.
So I think I got some really interesting shots here,
and so let's see what we can find at another location.
I immediately saw this very strong diagonal line
in the building, and it reminds me of this famous photograph
by Phan Hoang, this photographer from Hong Kong.
He had this amazing image from the 50s
that has this very strong dynamic diagonal line,
and I feel it capture the idea
that is ephemeral shadow is almost
like a physical architectural feature.
That's really a great thing to think about,
even though they're just ephemeral
and changing all the time,
you can treat it as a physical feature and play with it.
I'm going to have our models do a very strong walk
to yeah, toward the shadow side.
Yeah, I like that.
And I'm going to have her come back again
and interact with the line as if it's like a...
So I would have her kind of like maybe doing
some sort of things like this like lean, touch,
just, yeah, just like doing fun things
but try to create a moment that's...
And that's how you interact with the shadow element
and create something interesting.
When I'm traveling,
I don't have a ton of time at a location,
so obviously, I have to be prudent about my time
and just focus on the angles
that I'd really, really want to capture.
I don't take a ton of images either.
As you can see, I only shoot a few images
and I don't want to just kind of spray and pray
as some people use it
and just really pay attention to my composition
and really take a moment and compose and slow down,
and so you can get that image in less fewer shots.
You can also lean your head to one side,
kind of like, yeah, just like really, really dreamy,
and then maybe drop one elbow further.
Yeah, create a beautiful shape
and just kind of direct your model
to kind of create some something different, something iconic.
Yeah, That's great.
All right. I think I got it.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Thanks for watching.
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