David Wagstaff-Myers Photography

Inspiration The most exciting kinds of artificial lighting are those that mimic natural light. It’s not easy to recreate nature’s subtle, atmospheric qualities. Beginners make the common mistake of throwing way too much light at what they’re shooting. Whether you’re shooting people or products, less is more. The more focused the lighting, the more interesting and visually compelling it becomes. If there’s light everywhere, there’s no direction for the viewer’s eye to follow. If there’s a scarcity of light, the areas that are illuminated become the focal point. We see this kind of subtle light in nature. Lighting geeks like me love nothing more than watching the way sunlight behaves as it streams through a narrow opening, moves across the sky or scatters into beams of light as it breaks through clouds or strikes the leaves of a tree overhead. It results in unique shapes and patterns. These magic lighting moments give me pause and remind me how powerful light and shadow can be in...

After 12 years working as a professional photographer, I realise now more than ever the value of having working relationships with industry vendors. We all have a job to do, we all want to be successful, we all want to make money. I see a lot of businesses take an isolationist approach, which can be detrimental to the success of your business. Instead, I find ways to foster mutually beneficial relationships with vendors. Recently I was looking at where my fashion portraiture referrals were coming from when I noticed that a venue I used to shoot at several times a year had completely fallen off my radar. We had not shot a wedding there in almost five years. How could that be? We picked up the phone, scheduled a meeting with their team and did something about it. Below is how we went from an afterthought to front-runner—and rebuilt a relationship and our portfolio along the way. Know what you bring to the table.  We are creatives. All businesses need creative talent. They need g...

Many photographers dream of working on location in incredible places where one might encounter the occasional giraffe or dolphin. A few years ago I was exposed to the dark side of destination shoots when I was invited by my good friend Brian to shoot inside a vast abandoned country house in West Yorkshire erected before the Civil War. Since then, I’ve had the urge to visit destinations where I am more likely to get tetanus than to see a family of elk. There is a strange allure to working on location in these abandoned buildings. Part of it is the architecture and history of the building. But to be honest, I’m mostly into it for the spooky factor. At the house, my mind was free to ponder the 100s souls who died there. When I walk through the halls of places like this, I let my mind wander to the history. I also think about the architectural workmanship of those who are long dead and forgotten. In the nursery room, the name of a nurse was carved into the concrete floor. That gav...

QUICK TIP: USE TENT PEGS TO STOP YOUR LIGHT STANDS FALLING OVER ON LOCATION One of the most common questions I see on social media, especially just after somebody’s posted an image shot on location with flash, is “How do you stop your light stands from falling over?” – which isn’t an unreasonable question to expect. When it’s just you and your subject, how do people stop their light stands from falling over? Well, you could carry a bunch of heavy sandbags around with you, or make sure to hire an assistant for all of your location shoots, but photographer Wayne Speer has another idea – especially when shooting in locations with soft ground. He uses tent pegs and rope. It’s a great way to keep your stands pegged down – quite literally – so that they don’t fall over due to being top heavy or during a bit of a breeze. I’ve been using this technique myself for about a decade now, although I strap mine down slightly differently to Wayne. You can see in the images above that Wayne ties his...

The Key to Basic Beauty Lighting Let’s talk about the word “beauty” for a second to get our journey off on the right path. The definition: “A combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.” Seems pretty straightforward—we see something beautiful, and we admire it because of those elements mentioned above. As a photographer, ask yourself this question: how often do you break down a session into those key elements? Our creative path is usually inspired by other images we see, images that evoke the desired adjective of “beautiful” and also conjure the phrase, “I want to shoot something like this too!” You get all the necessary components together and start photographing. But are you replicating what you saw as your inspiration, or are you returning to the basics of beauty—the definition of the word? SHAPE To define shape, we can, of course, think about the pose of the subject, but the lighting patt...

There is a recipe in everything we do as human beings, one that incites some type of emotional response no matter where we are and what we are doing. It involves the senses—whether a single one or multiple at the same time. In the artistic realm, part of the goal is to generate a response based on a recipe that engages sight. This requires a process that will make your vision come to life—from formulation to actualization in creating images that inspire and elicit joy when viewed. The creative process and the steps we take to achieve a goal are similar across many genres. In this case, they are similar to the process of a chef who specializes in a specific set of culinary delights. This is how I approach creating my images, whether in a studio or out on location. There is more than one recipe, of course, but I will go over the five key steps that structure how I approach creating my own imagery. There are several factors to take into account: Location, Lighting, Colo...

Finish What You Started It is so important that, as artists, we finish our final images before delivering to our clients. The images we create are more than just a snapshot in time; they are truly a representation of how we see the world around us. These images will live on for generations to come. Shouldn’t we polish them before we deliver them to our clients? Now, in the world of post-production, we tend to see two camps. There’s that of purists, who believe in just delivering images as they were captured, reminiscent of the days of film before we had Photoshop. And then there are those on the other end of the spectrum who believe in using software to shape, alter, and polish their images before presenting to their clients. I’d like to think I live somewhere in the middle, which I am sure many of you can relate to. What I would like to do here is explore how the right amount of post-production can help you and your business stand out. First, let’s start with thi...

If you want to work as a model, it is extremely important to build a modelling portfolio. Then you will be able to show what you can do to your potential clients with ease. You will need to pay attention to several important factors when building your modelling portfolio. Here is a list of useful tips that you can keep in mind when building your modelling portfolio to get the best results out of it. 1. First of all, you need to determine what kind of model you are. In fact, modelling can be divided into several categories. Lifestyle, promotional and fashion are some of them. It is up to you to analyze your skills, outer appearance and preferences before making the decision. The decision you make here will create a tremendous impact on your future as a successful model. 2. When creating your modelling portfolio, it is important to think about quality over quantity. That’s where professional photographers can assist you with. In fact, the photographer you hire has the ability to ...

So you’ve shot a few pretty girls, and you feel ready to call yourself a fashion photographer. Fair enough, we all had to start somewhere. However, to live up to the term Fashion Photographer and all of the legends that have worn the label before you, there are a few elementary things you should master, aside from the technical aspect of shooting. To help you on your way to recognition, respect and a following, here are 10 things a fashion photographer should master: 1. History Know your profession and respect the history of it. Remember, you are standing on the shoulders of giants, and you owe it to your art to study the works of who shaped the industry and brought the art to where it is today. Besides, looking back at what was done back in the day might teach you a thing or two that will take your work to the next level. You should know how Edward Steichen in 1911 was “dared” by Lucien Vogel, the publisher of Jardin des Modes and La Gazetta du Bon Ton, to promote fashion as...