MODEL PORTFOLIO PHOTOSHOOT
Edna Conteh is a Washington DC based model working with Unite Unite and Trey Scouting. She was traveling to London for a number of photoshoots, including to work with me. We had decided to do a full model portfolio shoot to refresh her online presence. Edna is an incredible human and absolute professional, not to mention a wonderful model. Instead of shooting a fashion or beauty shoot, we decided to work together to create something more personal. This model portfolio shoot was going to be much closer to a portrait shoot.
Edna had told me she uses modelling as a way to express herself and let her emotions out. In light of that, I asked her if she could cry - and amazingly she said she could. Over the course of a couple of hours we worked on these incredible images, building both our portfolios, but also letting her express quite raw, and personal emotions. She did in fact cry in front of the camera, which is quite the feat! I am incredibly honoured to have worked with Edna on these images, as she let her vulnerability to show through.
As I shoot a mixture of natural light (from my large west facing window) and studio light, I am able to layer up lighting and use different sources to create the effects I want. With these images, (pink) I asked Edna to stand in front of the pink curtains in my studio with the sunlight streaming through. Almost by accident the sun hit my lens and created a wonderful lens flare that gave these shots an ethereal glow. Normally in photography we are told not to let these sorts of things happen (that’s why you might use a lens hood), but I let these sorts of accidents happen in my headshot work because they can produce outstanding results.
As the shoot drew to a close, the sun was setting and throwing a beautiful warm yellow glow across the wall at the back of my studio. Almost intuitively I asked Edna to kneel on my sofa and position herself in the light. The resulting image was almost a reflex - but wow, what a shot! This has to have been my favourite shot of the day and quite possibly my favourite I’ve shot so far.
We rounded the day off with pizza and chats. What a wonderful experience with this incredible model. I can’t wait for her to return to London.
If you’d like a shoot like this, check out my simple pricing structure here.
And see my full portfolio here.