How do you balance out height differences in a couple or group? This is my approach to photographing short and tall people together – and why sometimes it’s best not to manipulate height differences at all. I was recently commissioned to create a panoramic image for a company’s website, featuring everyone in the team. For this kind of job, I typically shoot everyone individually, then combine the images in post-production. This allows for a little manipulation to even out big …
So there I was, lying on the floor one (really) cold December day, capturing portraits of this family walking along with their new puppy. All of a sudden, the puppy hurtled towards me. What to do? React – quickly – and seize the opportunity for a totally different image: this one. Families who rarely meet up during the year often make the effort to do so over the Christmas period. So, even though it’s too late to make sales …
It was the last summer before four very good friends said their goodbyes and parted ways. My commission was to capture the joy of their time together for them to look back on. This was taken as part of a 16th birthday shoot for Sophie (on the far right of this shot). She was one of a group of four who had been friends forever and were about to be apart for the first time as they were heading off …
Three sisters wanted a great shot of their collective pre-teen, teenage and young adult children. The kids were less than enthusiastic – how could I get them on board? This portrait was one of 20 images in my submission for the top professional qualification, a Fellowship with the Master Photographers Association. I took it during a session booked by three sisters. They were looking for a portrait of their combined offspring: ten cousins, aged between 10 and 21 years old. …
When you’re faced with a group of people, the easy option is to get them to sit or stand close together. Instead spend a little more time to position them so that the pattern of their heads in the frame creates a more interesting shape, like a triangle. Amy, Blaize, Kai and Callie spent the day with us while we were filming our promotional video for Paul Wilkinson Photography. Part of the video shows what our portrait shoots are like, …
This group portrait was taken under a bridge which featured in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Here’s how I managed the guys’ different heights & outfits. This portrait of Charles, James and William was taken in the London street where Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was filmed. The textured brick wall adds a gritty, urban feel to the shot, matched by the confident poses and cool expressions of my subjects. We were just under the shade of a …
What’s the best way to include a variety of locations in your images from a single shoot? Go for a walk with your subject(s), just as I did with these five friends. This graffiti wall was just one of the perfect locations we came across. These five friends are all from Norway (although the woman who contacted me to arrange the shoot, Cathrine, now lives in the UK). They wanted some portraits together in London, so I arrived there bright …