There are so many amazing photographers in the world, all with different styles and equipment. I take inspiration from many photographers with anything from equipment to editing tones, these are some of my favourite photographers and why I take inspiration from them.
Every photographer has their own unique way of working and their own style of photography, taking inspiration from other photographers is normal and can often help budding photographers to find their personal take on photography.
Brandon Woelfel
Brandon Woelfel is a New York Based Photographer, who uses both lighting and colour to capture beautiful images. Woelfel captures and intimacy between his subjects by making them feel comfortable with the camera and each other. Woelfel uses both natural and additional lighting to capture his images often also adding fairy lights or coloured smoke bombs to enhance an image or moment within a shoot.
“Photography and art have a huge impact on the world, communicating across various cultures, we’re able to break through language barriers and share our experiences through images.” - Brandon Woelfel
Brandon has worked as both a private photographer doing photo shoots just for him, his clients and his growing three million Instagram followers. He has also worked in partnership with companies such as Brandy Melville, Bose and Macy’s, using his own unique style of photography to capture their products in organised shoots and in use at events such as Coachella.
Images by Brandon Woelfel @brandonwoelfel Woelfel uses his social media platforms to publicise his work as well as encourage new photographers, by making YouTube videos on behind the scenes of his photo shoots, equipment and editing, showing before and after shots once they have been produced.
I am inspired by Brandon's photography for many reasons, not only does he produce visually beautiful images his unique style captures the intensity and intimacy of a moment otherwise missed in every day life. Brandon has found a balance between portraiture and more abstract photography through his signature style as they are all individually captivating whilst telling a larger story when put together.
Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams was an American landscape photographer, known for his black and white images, he favoured a sharp focus and full tonal range in his photography. Adams was also an environmentalist and his photography was intertwined with his advocacy, he was contracted by the United States Department of the Interior to capture images of national parks, this work awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.
Adams first images were published in the 1921, he used a soft-focus lens to capture his pictorial images before returning to a sharp focus lens with heightened contrast and precise exposure. During world war Two Adams, distressed by the internment of Japanese Americans, visited the Manzanar War Relocation Center, which resulted in work that was a significant departure, stylistically from the work for which Adams is generally known. At the end of his career Adams was commissioned by President Jimmy Carter to make the first official photographic portrait of a U.S. president.
Images by Ansel Easton AdamsAdams photographed at varying times of the day and of the year, capturing the landscape's changing light and atmosphere. The black-and-white reflected a sublime experience of nature as a spiritual place. His photos show his commitment to conservation of the environments he photographed with increasing environmental degradation in the West during the 20th century.
"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." - Ansel Adams
Adams photography captures nature and the American West landscape in its purest form because of the era in which the photos were taken, they are stripped back and unpolluted by editing and touch ups delivering the environment rich in tonal quality.
Follow Brandon Woelfel on Instagram @brandonwoelefl