Portraits, Moi?

I have just been on an enlightening course led by Len Bateman in Pembrokeshire on careers in photography. The first day concentrated on defining the main areas of commercial photography, marketing techniques and business approaches. Len ran a successful business with 3 studios in South Wales until his retirement a few years ago and his insights into the commercial world were incredibly informative. Then we concentrated on portrait photography set-ups, from lighting to studio organisation and shoot organisation. For someone who has resolutely refused to do any people photography in the past this was terrifying – the idea of shooting models was just not on my agenda – ever. However I have to admit that after some excellent instruction and trial and error, I actually got to enjoy it and I think I managed to get some decent shots. Both Len and the models were extremely encouraging and said that I had directed the shoot enthusiastically and had really got some great images. As with most things, it seems that preparation is key and as long as the lighting is set-up well, the shoot should concentrate on getting the images the customer wants. We even went through setting up wedding shoots – now that might be a step too far, but I’m not ruling out doing portraits anymore. Anyone know of any studios going spare in South Wales?

Some of the images I took: