Tell us a little about yourself and your work.
I started taking pictures late, in 2003, when I was 25 years old, with a small compact camera that had been given to me as a present for my wedding. That was the time when a big passion was born… My first subjects were mostly mountain scenery, flowers and insects macro, given my passion for the mountains and nature since I was little. Some time later, I got my first reflex camera and then some quality lenses. I started to photograph pretty much everything and some friends started asking me to take pictures at their weddings. That is how, in 2008, I made the jump: I enrolled in a photography school in Rome and I started to work as a professional photographer. I manly do wedding photographs and between 2010 and 2011 I was awarded prizes in multiple contests by WPJA and AGWPJA, two of the most prestigious international associations for wedding photography. I think I am in constant evolution and that is why I keep experimenting and studying new photography and post-production techniques.
How would you describe your style of photography?
I tend to be split in two. On one hand, there is the wedding photography, working with a reporter style where the main point is to be able to catch the moment. This is what the wedding couples ask from me. Certainly, even in weddings, I like to foster situations where light, tones and contrasts can bring a more creative picture, but it all depends on the couple and the setting where the wedding takes place. On the other hand, there is the conceptual photography, where the images come to life from different paths: by chance, after sleepless nights, or from personal visions of what surrounds me. Images that I express by merging multiple shots. At times, I search for hyperrealism and I become intentionally imaginative.
What is the most challenging shot you have been on?
The most challenging are the images with the models in the high mountains, mostly due to the difficulty in finding the right light and the logistic difficulties of the hike. In reality, the model is photographed in a studio adapting the light to the scene shot. From all of them, the most challenging was “Mountain Dea” where the background was produced by the fusion of two shots both realized in the Dolomiti mountains at an altitude of 3000 meters and during the early morning hours after a strenuous trekking to reach the destination. In this shot, I designed the model’s dress after researching the fabric that could match the background texture.
On your site you have more B&W photos than color. Do you prefer to shot in B&W over color? If so, why?
I prefer the B&W because the absence of the color takes me away from a reality immersed in colors. Colors can be sometimes chaotic. Having said that, there are some images instead that get strength only when certain tones are used. At this point, the image needs to be in color.
Where do you see yourself as a photographer in 10 years?
I honestly don’t know, but I am convinced that in 10 years I will still have the same desire to experiment and to evolve that was present since the first shots.
What is the most important thing in your camera bag after your camera?
The awareness that taking pictures is a wonderful job if in addition to the equipment you use your heart and your head.
If you were not a photographer what would you be doing for work?
I would be working in the wine industry, a world that I really love.
Do you do a lot of post-production on your photos? If so, what is your process?
It depends. In wedding photography I don’t generally distort the images. I apply, in batch, some presets that I personally create using Lightroom for base adjustments and color toning. After that, I perform fine adjustments. I eventually recover lights and shadows and I remove imperfections. For the B&W conversions, I work the files with Photoshop. For more artistic productions, the job is more complicated. Generally, I need to merge parts of the cut out images. I don’t always start with shots in studio that are optimized for this purpose, so I need to align tones and luminosity of the various parts. In this case too, I perform the first steps with Lightroom: white balance, luminosity, contrast, color corrections, corrections in color aberrations, and pre-sharpening. After that, I use Photoshop for masking the sub images and fusion them, and for the B&W conversion when it needs. I like to work in a reversible manner, so I work often with advanced objects and multiple levels of manipulation.
Why did you choose CMD for your website?
I chose CMD because it is a great platform for photographers, with different tools for operation and sales already built-in, and also for the wide selection of design and customization services.
View more of Patrick’s work on his site patrickodorizzifoto.com
