If there’s one thing that the last two years have taught us, it is the value and importance of friendship. The inability for people to come together, in celebration of achievements or just the every day, has been felt across the world.
But as everywhere begins to open up and everyone is once again reuniting, capturing those memories and moments has become more important than ever.
Martini, the Italian Aperitif brand well-known for creating special moments for over 150 years, understand how important the need to connect really is. They have therefore collaborated with renowned international photographer Greg Williams to not only provide photography tips but also offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
As restrictions ease, simply submit images from your in-real-life meetups with friends, using the hashtag #MARTINIMOMENTS and Martini and Williams will choose four people to have the unique opportunity to be photographed remotely with their friends by Williams himself, using emerging new technology.
To inspire people to capture their own moments of reconnection, Williams, admired for his reportage-style images, will launch the series with a collection of photographs in celebration of friendship, featuring his wife, fashion model, Eliza Cummings. Centred around a typical Italian Aperitivo hour in the early evening sunshine, the scene depicts the group catching up over cicchetti and enjoying the delicious taste of MARTINI FIERO and tonic.
Victoria Morris, Vice President of MARTINI, comments: “At MARTINI, we understand the importance of time spent with friends, it’s been at the very heart of our brand since it was founded by three friends over 150 years ago. We’ve all missed meeting with friends over the past year but finally, as restrictions ease, we can now enjoy those incomparable face-to-face moments with the ones we love.
“Through our partnership with Greg Williams, we want people to celebrate reconnecting and help us capture this extraordinary moment in time,” Morris continued.
Greg Williams adds, “The past year has been tough, and I’ve certainly missed being able to hang out with my friends, that’s why I’m so pleased to be partnering with such an iconic brand as MARTINI on this project. I describe myself as a candid photographer, capturing images in-the-moment, and as friends start to meet up there are going to be so many opportunities to take beautiful shots.
He continues; “You’re most relaxed when you’re with your closest friends and when you haven’t seen those people for quite some time, the emotion and excitement can come through in an image that can be kept forever. I am excited to be curating a digital gallery of the best images and to see the joy as friends come together”.
Below Williams has provided a number of photo tips to help you capture your best moments with friends. And don’t forget that to be in with a chance to be featured in the gallery and of winning the exclusive opportunity to be photographed with friends by Greg Williams, you need to submit your photographs to #martinimoments on Instagram.
Greg Williams Photography Tips
1. Your smartphone is a great camera
Your best camera will always be the one that’s with you! While I of course use professional camera equipment, I also shoot on my smartphone everyday. Get to know the functions you are working with – for example, when taking photos on a sunny day, the auto exposure might overexpose your subject. You can manually control this by using the exposure function and you will immediately see how your friends truly become the subject of the photo . The important thing is that you expose for the subject, which very often means overriding the auto exposure in either direction.
2. Tell a story and get involved in the shot
When reconnecting with friends, you don’t need to take a selfie to feel part of the picture. I like to participate in my photography – whether that’s raising a glass in shot or getting friends to chat with me as I shoot. To capture the ambience of the scene you are photographing, try raising your glass of MARTINI Fiero & Tonic in the frame and having a cheers! Not only will it capture the joy of reconnecting
with friends, but the vibrant colour of the cocktail will shine through. You can also use the moment as a storytelling opportunity. A lot of great photos really showcase people’s personalities, and I like to do this by encouraging reactions directly into the lens.
3. Start thinking about light
The most crucial part of capturing Aperitivo hour with friends is having a good time, but second to that is good lighting. When working with natural light you essentially have two choices; front light, with the sun behind the camera or backlight, with the sun behind the subject. Front light is more of a sculpting light where backlight is a softer, beauty light. In both cases make sure to expose for your subject rather than the whole scene.
4. Find better compositions
A great rule of thumb for good composition is simply to think about filling the frame. Another useful guide is the well-established ‘rule of thirds’ whereby you position your key elements (cocktails in this case!) on the ‘thirds’ – so a third of the way in and/ or up. You can also reframe when you are editing on your smartphone with this rule in mind. Another simple tip is to always to be prepared to move. Too often people take a photo without even getting off their chair when there is almost certainly a better composition to be found if you get up and look for it.
5. Time for editing
Once you have your set of photos, it’s time to edit. This doesn’t necessarily mean retouching your photos, but selecting the most emotive frames. To handpick the ultimate #MARTINIMOMENT, I encourage you to select photos that feel authentic. Essentially, it is all about listening to your inner voice and going with the frame that creates an emotional response.
For more information on Martini Vermouths, go to martini.com
