Okay, so I decided I wanted to try and capture that Pharrell Williams vibe in a photoshoot recently. It wasn’t about shooting the man himself, obviously, but more about getting that cool, effortless style he has down.
Getting Started
First thing, I spent some time just looking at a bunch of his photos. You know, checking out the poses, the clothes, the overall feel. He’s got this mix of street style, high fashion, and just pure confidence. That’s what I wanted to get across.
I figured I needed a simple background, something clean so the focus would be on the style. I ended up clearing out a corner in my studio space. Just a plain white wall seemed like the best bet. Didn’t want anything too distracting.
The Setup and Gear
I grabbed my usual camera, nothing too fancy. Lighting was the main thing I thought about. Pharrell often looks like he’s lit pretty naturally, even in studio shots. So, I decided against anything too harsh. I set up one main softbox off to the side and used a reflector on the opposite side to fill in shadows. Kept it pretty straightforward.
- Got the camera ready – checked the battery, memory card.
- Positioned the softbox, angled it down slightly.
- Placed the reflector to bounce some light back.
- Did a few test shots with just the setup to see how the light looked.
Trying to Capture the Vibe
Now for the hard part – getting the feel right. Since I was doing this myself, using a model friend, we looked back at the reference pics. We tried a few different outfits. Think colourful hoodies, some interesting accessories like hats and sunglasses – stuff that felt Pharrell-esque. It wasn’t about copying exactly, more about catching the spirit.
Posing was tricky. He has this relaxed but intentional way of standing or sitting. We tried leaning against the wall, some walking shots (well, pretending to walk), hands in pockets, looking away from the camera. Some poses felt really awkward at first, gotta be honest. We took a lot of shots.
Challenges Along the Way
Getting the lighting just right took some fiddling. Moved the softbox around a bit, adjusted the power. At one point, the reflections in the sunglasses were annoying, so we had to change the angle quite a bit. Also, keeping the energy up and making it look effortless when you’re trying really hard is tough!
Wrapping Up and Looking Back
After a couple of hours, we felt like we had enough to work with. I dumped all the photos onto my computer straight away. Scrolling through, some were definitely duds, totally missed the mark. But others? Yeah, some actually captured that little spark I was going for. The simple background worked well, and the lighting was decent in most.
It was a fun experiment. Trying to emulate someone else’s specific style really makes you pay attention to details you might normally ignore. It’s a good exercise. Didn’t nail it perfectly, but definitely got some cool shots out of it and learned a bit more about controlling light and directing poses.
