Licensed contributor William Trostel on taking commercial photographs

William is a 500px license contributor based in Pennsylvania, United States. Her style ranges from capturing candid lifestyle moments to documenting real life in urban America to beauty and fashion. Working with a number of commercial brands throughout his career, William is able to apply his diverse experience in photography to a wide range of dynamic photography concepts, creating truly unique photographs.

Q: You photograph portraits, weddings, events, commercial content for brands and urban and landscape photography. Do you think this strain made you a stronger photographer?

A: I really feel like shooting a wide variety of content has made me a better photographer. This allows me to learn and keep my creative process constantly evolving and prevents it from stagnating. Each year, my photos are very different from the previous ones.

Q: Are there any skills you use or tips you have learned to photograph weddings that are useful when shooting commercial content?

A: One of the most important things I have learned from weddings is the lighting. There are many types of lighting that can be used during weddings depending on the time of day. Taking all of this allowed me to transfer much of this knowledge to other forms of photography such as commercial content. Lighting and how to use it is everything and cannot be overlooked.

Q: What type of commercial photography do you prefer to photograph?

A: Fine art portraits, for sure. I love working one-on-one with a model and creating work using the body as an art form. The bold outfits, the lighting and the colorful backgrounds were my last ideas of interest with my work.

Q: You have a great sense of authenticity, is this a trend you see developing in commercial photography?

A: I think it is a trend, but at the same time it is not. In the world of social media, everyone tries to be unique and to stand out. At the same time, social media allows us all to gather ideas and motivation from others. My work is mine, but my ideas are pieces of ideas that I have collected from other people. We all feed on each other. Art and inspiration can come from everything, including other art mediums, not just photography.

Q: When working with a client, what would a typical filming day look like?

A: Because I photograph many different photography media, it varies greatly depending on the client and what they want.

A recent portrait shoot that I did, for example, started as an investigation through the musical artist. From there, we went over some examples of images from sites like IG and Pinterest, as well as all the ideas we had in our heads. On the day of the shooting, I arrived early in my studio to install the lighting and equipment, so when the individual arrived, we were able to start immediately. After taking the picture, I selected usable images and created a gallery of prints so that the individual could select their final images as part of their purchased photo package. Finally, I edited the images and delivered them.

Q: When you are not working, what do you spend with your time?

A: I love training in my local gym as well as traveling!

Q: You are currently based in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, how does the city you live in inspire your work as a photographer?

A: Lebanon is in the heart of the Appalachians. Having nature to photograph gave me a lot to do when I started. My environment gave me a reason to stay active – just grab my camera and go. Even today, I usually go for a hike and use my phone or film camera. At the same time, acquiring a drone recently allowed me to capture even more of my surroundings and vast landscapes.

Q: Tell us about your “Gabrielle” series. What were some of the concepts you wanted to achieve with this series?

A: This shooting was actually planned at the last minute and had no real goal in mind. Upon entering this shoot, we had two ideas: what we wanted Gabby to wear and the location. Everything else was completely on site. The sunset ended up giving us incredible colors, which, in my opinion, really made the filming what it was. Once I got the footage and I knew what the sunset looked like, I uploaded it to Lightroom and I knew I wanted to go for a very deep melancholy look, and not do the editing too much. So I chose images where the model looks unhappy or uncomfortable to give this feeling of sadness. The end result is what you see!

Q: Are you excited about current or future projects?

A: I recently launched a YouTube channel with my username, “William Trostel Photography”. This was my main focus during the Covid-19 lockdown here in America. I started documenting the things I see daily and the things I do with my cameras and turned them into a YouTube series called “Isolation”.

Q: What is the next step for you?

A: Once the restrictions on Covid-19 are lifted, the wedding season will come to me.

I expect to spend the rest of the year doing weddings and doing things related to wedding photography. Along with that, I would like to continue my YouTube channel and see growth with it. I am also happy to make travel plans!