When approaching a portraiture comission, I like to develop a unique and attractive piece of photography which captures individual personality together with a sense of life, movement and emotion. I aim to maintain a naturally relaxed and above all personal look to the image with the minimum of re-touching. This sets the work apart from the many 'high street' operators who offer branded and one-size-fits-all products.
In order to create such work, I try to get to know a little something about the subject(s) which in turn makes the shoot more fun. I will bounce some ideas around with you initially to create a brief, e.g. what / who is the photography for, how many pictures, what sort of image style / feeling / effect are you looking for, i.e. contemporary, classic, pop-art, reportage, etc. Also at this stage we can plan for several different set-ups, outfits, props and of course whether this is to be a studio shoot or on location.
The shoot usually lasts between 1 to 2 hours, providing enough time to try some different lighting setups, compositions and outfits. We start the session with an informal chat to get to know each other a little bit more; building up a rapport not only helps to create a more enjoyable experience; it creates images which really stand out and will be highly regarded for many years.
The studio setup offers a range of backgrounds and lighting effects and we can also view the output as we go if necessary. I can also combine studio and location work if required. For location work I have a portable lighting set up which can be used indoors or outdoors.
From a typical shoot of 100 or so pictures, I produce a proof set of around 20 images from which you choose the prints you want. I work with a number of professional print processing labs which offer a range of products to display the final images with and we can discuss the options as part of the brief.
