Progetti Fotografici means Photographic Projects.
Each of our photo shoots brings together all of the elements of visual storytelling, very much like the artistry of a film director.
 
My role in each Project is to assemble the myriad of details into the final visual presentation.
 
I was deeply moved by this email received from a client: “The questions and planning for the photo shoot matched exactly how I had imagined capturing my concept of Photographic Project.”
 
Every photo shoot, including yours, must be based from the clients vision and ideas, not simply those of the photographer.
Above all, I am convinced of the importance of client’s perspective in creating projects should be key in creating each project.
 
Please take a moment and give a look what this couple wrote, and discover how events unfolded…..thank you!
 

 
Email text:

[…]
Below are some ideas to start the conversation. First I will briefly describe our idea of the photographs in order of priority, then I will attach some photographs that have aspects of what we would like in our portrait.

Photo’s in order of importance:
1. A portrait taken outside, in a naturally beautiful setting, with the lake of course.
2. A portrait taken in one of the lovely rooms of the Serbelloni. (We don’t need to stage the room, and we don’t need a stylist.)
3. Third priority would be a portrait onboard a ferry or a boat (perhaps on a trip from Bellagio to Varenna?).
4. Fourth priority would be a location in a small town setting (perhaps having prosecco at a cafe in Varenna — you should have a glass too of course!).

For the technical style and composition:
• We like the look of photos that feel older with less saturated color. We like the early color of the 1930s, and also colorized black and white.
• We want to capture the natural beauty of the lake, trees and sharp angles of the mountains.
• We would like to capture the beautiful architecture and are happy with both the grand and not so grand aspects of this.

For the feeling of our poses (which may affect your choice of composition):
• We were thinking of being a bit more formal than what you seem to have examples of. (In truth, we are not very formal, and so it seems interesting and fun to have a formal portrait of us made.) Perhaps we think of it like posing for a painted portrait.
• We don’t want to be romantically engaged, holding hands or hugging. (You may have to remind us to stop, as we do this constantly in real life, haha.)
• We like photos where the subjects are not looking directly at the camera.
• While it’s a pose, we also create the impression that we are doing something, or at least that our attention is on something off camera. That the photo is a part of a larger story or documentary.

Some of the inspiration for this come from photographs of the life of the Queen of England!
I know… But stick with us.

Here we see an obviously posed photograph, but the intent seems to be trying to show the family as if they’re just hanging around the backyard, reading, playing with the dogs…
From the perspective of the emotion of the pose, this is very close to the feeling we want to create.
Like we are trying to look not posed, but failing in some way.
The look and feel of this photo (desaturated color, outside) and calm emotion of the poses make this the closest to what we want thematically.
The composition and place will be very different of course, but this has the right “feeling”.
 

In an opulent interior, she is not looking at the camera, and feels relaxed.
This feels like a painted portrait.
We don’t need this same lighting (you would need extra lights for this) and we aren’t looking to do individual portraits, but we like the feeling of the pose and the place.
There are some great rooms in the hotel we could jump into for a short time I think.

by Cecil Beaton, cibachrome print from original transparency, 14 December 1948


This one feels more “candid” but we still like the way they are looking away from the camera, and there seems to be a story going on… they still feel aware of the camera, but are ignoring it.
 

This pose isn’t exactly what we want, but we like the boat idea, time permitting…
 

A bit more candid than we like for the first portrait, but perhaps we could get more candid as we go on…
Also, the colors are nice, and they are walking.
 

Just throwing these ones in because it’s a different pose that may or may not work.
 

 

It’s a lot of information I know, but we hope it helps you understand what we are thinking.
Let us know if you are available, and have a great day!

C.

PS… Being an expert of the Italian Lake District region, I know all the best hidden corners of Lake Como where going and taking photos during weddings, portrait or storytelling session … Let’s the story start!

Partners // Many thanks to:
Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio
Sanja Tedesco, Lake in Love Wedding Planner
Filippo Barindelli, Barindelli Taxi Boats
Digital colorized B&W and B&W film emulation.
Preset infos // Lightroom: Rooke & Rover Weisshorn W01 (modified) // ASE: Technicolor (modified)