Abby, Plymouth, 2010

I’m very happy with these images. For what might seem to be quite simple portraits, there’s a lot of elements that I really like.

The styling, the hair, the lighting, the post-production — all came together really well and in a coherent way. And of course, Abby looks great and did brilliantly in working with the theme of the shoot.

Abby, Plymouth, 2010

72%, with caramel.

I’m actually partial to Lindt Chilli Chocolate, but that’s for special occasions.

Abby, Plymouth, 2010

Who doesn’t like chocolate?

My personal favourite is the Lion Bar.

Abby, Plymouth, 2010

More than OK in fact.

A quick (but likely to be final) edit of a shot from last night’s shoot with Abby. I do curse my 3-year-old camera’s rather limited ability to focus ‘correctly’ in low light, but after seeing this image I think I should be thinking of it as a ‘feature’.

The focus ‘should’ be on the eye… as any portrait photographer will tell you. But to me, the most interesting thing here are the layers and texture of the hair, and I love the way they pop out in this shot, due to it being the shallow focal point.

Yeah, it’s a portrait, but the eyes aren’t always the subject.

I’ll just have to try and remember this when I get a better camera…

Emillie, Plymouth, 2008

It’s all about texture. I’m a lover of texture. It’s the main reason I love using shallow depth of focus so much — the details of the area in focus really ping out against the softness surrounding them.

And when the details reveal something about the person or add an element of intrigue to the situation being photographed, so much the better.

The goosebumps on Emillie’s arm in this image are a nice example of this. Without them, it’d still be a nice image, no doubt. With them, however, it becomes something slightly curiouser and holds the attention just that little bit longer… The image starts to feel a bit more ‘real’ and therefore more engaging.

Emillie, Plymouth, 2008

The film/Holga shoot yesterday had to be postponed — the traffic held me up for an age and it was raining cats and dogs, so I threw in the towel. I’m itching to get some fresh Holga work done though, as I don’t think there’s enough of it about, particularly in the commercial world.

A shoot in the rain would lend itself to the Holga well, now I think about it… At least I wouldn’t have to worry about getting the camera wet — it might even help.