portrait photographer

I have a real admiration for young people who know what they want to do later in life, and who go out there and try and make it happen. They are determined to achieve their dreams.

There is something really special about photographing young aspiring actors and models, and I always feel privileged knowing that I am somehow able to be part of their journey by taking some of their first headshots.

Fin came into my studio a few months ago, because he wanted to join an acting agency and needed some headshots. His photo session was a blast! Here are just a few of the images we captured!

Fin was confident in front of the camera and took direction really well. A quick learner, he was able to pick up new poses easily. He also had a great command of his facial expressions, which is very impressive, especially for someone so young, but obviously a very important skill for an actor.

His serious and gloomy poses are some of my favourites!

This is what Fin said about his photo session:

Hi, I’m Fin, I’m 14 and I am an aspiring actor. I went to Ally to get some head shots for my profile at the acting and modelling agency I’m registered with. I really didn’t know what to expect.

However the shoot was in a really comfortable and relaxed environment and Ally gave me lots of direction about where to put my arms, where to look and how to ‘sqwinch’! I really enjoyed it, it was a great experience.

I am looking forward to seeing what Fin gets up to next on his next acting adventures and achievements.

Meanwhile, if you have a teenager at home who is keen to try their hand at acting or modelling, and they need some headshots, and portfolio photos, give me a call.

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Phew … you have no idea how great it feels to be taking and editing photographs of people again! Don’t get me wrong, I have throughly enjoyed trying different things, finding new settings on my camera I never knew existed, and generally having fun creating images I have never done before!

But it’s also nice to be back on known ground! Doing what I enjoy, and what I know I am good at!

This week’s challenge was Straight Out Of Camera – or for us geeky photographers out there – SOOC.

There was a time, not that long ago, where all photographs were straight out of camera! You would take your film camera with you, shoot some photos, take the film to Boots, and then collect your Straight Out Of Camera photographs a few days later. You just had to hope you had used the right settings, and the right film …

There were no Instagram filters, no quick post processing in Photoshop or Lightroom, and certainly none of these cute dog nose, bunny ears kind of Snapchat filters to have fun with! More on this, in Tuesday’s blog!

Ok, with some high end photo labs, or if you had your own dark room and were a master at developing photos, there was some processing you could do … but it doesn’t even begin to compare with the amount of digital manipulation we have available at our fingertips nowadays!

Do I edit my photographs? Of course, I do! I’m not a huge photo editor … but I will regularly adjust levels, exposure, sometimes white balance. I will fix small defects and might run a gentle soft filter over some of my images, especially for ladies. Men with perfect skin just look weird! Sorry, guys!

Here’s an example of how my edited photograph would look, compared to the Straight Out Of the Camera one just above.

Is it hugely different? I don’t think so, but I definitely prefer the edited version!

Knowing that I would have to publish photographs that were completely unedited, did get me thinking a lot more about my photo composition, about the light available, and about the background!

I was very lucky to work with Pavlina, who is such a fabulous model! We took lots of different photos for a few of my forthcoming photo challenge themes, so you’ll get to see a bit more of her in the next couple of weeks!

After our photo session, Pavlina and I went out get a coffee at a nearby independent coffee shop – Common Grounds. If you haven’t been before, I highly recommend it! It’s in Little London, just by the entrance to the carpark behind M&S. They make some of the best coffee in town … and cake! Try it out!

So we took a few more photos over coffee.

I love these photos … but I have had to resist the urge to re-touch them. And that’s not because I don’t like them, but because, I don’t feel like they are my work! What I have come to realise is that post-processing my photographs in a particular way has become my signature … in the same way perhaps as a clothes designer would sew their label at the back of a dress.

What do you think? Do these photographs look the same as all my others? Or can you tell there’s something quite different about them?

Let me know by commenting below, or on whichever social media platform you happen to have seen this on.