Billy Charity Workshop
On Saturday the 31st of August, nine young people from P.O.V. Producers travelled to Hay on Wye. We were greeted by Mari Fforde at the stunning location of Hay Castle before being introduced to the impressive Billie Charity and a presentation of her work as a portrait photographer. After discussing her experiences and passions for working with people and photography, we were given the opportunity to explore a range of stunning photography books, from the famous Erwin Blumenfeld to modern artist Sian Davey. From this outstanding collection, we each got a chance to choose an image we felt resonated with us, taking it in turn to express why it stood out to us and what we liked. This was a perfect task that encouraged us to begin considering what we wanted to achieve from this workshop, what we could experiment with and how to achieve that.
This led into Billie briefing us on our day's plan of going into the charming town of Hay and approaching locals with the request to take their portrait. This immediately panicked some of the young people, however we were assured that no one was going to scream in our face, and that it’ll be much less scary than we thought. After a last offer of tips and suggestions, we were released into the public. We quickly found after approaching a handful of individuals, that the people of Hay were not as intimidating as we thought, and often enthusiastic to have their portrait taken.
After an hour or so of photographing, we reassembled at the Castle, where we spent a few minutes culling and editing our photographs. We each sent Billie our top three, before they were all presented to the group. As we slowly went through the collection, it was evident how Billie’s advice had shone through our work, each image showing great talent and capability to take a portrait that truly captures the energy of the model. As each shot appeared, us young people proudly took ownership of our work and spoke a little about what it was like to approach that person and what conversations were sparked. Amazingly, the most nervous of us at the beginning of the workshop found they had discovered an unexpected confidence and comfortability with approaching strangers, guided by Billie’s advice.
Finally to end our trip, we treated ourselves to a well-deserved ice cream, accompanied with a new-found talent in portrait photography.
Photography tips
● Use the camera/phone you already have - think less about equipment and more about being creative.
● Approach subjects with a big smile! And offer to email the photo to them as a thank you. If a person says they don’t want to be photographed, don't push it, move onto the next person.
● Composition - don’t cut off important parts of the photo, keep horizons level, and try to eliminate distractions in your photo by adjusting your composition. Keep the photo simple - not too fussy, so that the eye is drawn straight into the image. Avoid horizons and anything distracting cutting through your subject’s head.
● Background is as important as subject in foreground - don’t be afraid to move subjects to a better/ less fussy background.
● Think about your own position - try kneeling down, standing on something, moving closer or further away, to get a different/ better angle.
● Learn which settings matter on your camera or phone - aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
● Pay attention to light - where is your light source? Watch out for harsh sunlight and shadows, windows, artificial light.
● Take your time - don’t rush!
● Push yourself and try new things - experiment.
● Look through photo books, chat to other photographers, follow those you admire on social media, engage with them, go to photography talks and exhibitions.
● Keep taking photos, and look back at your old photos to see where you have improved - the more photos you take, the better you will get.
● HAVE FUN!
Take a look…
