It's no secret that I more than love my job. I get paid to creatively engage in my hobby while also documenting new and fascinating people. Even so, I sometimes find that I need to take a break from the business photography realm and recharge by pushing my creative limits - learning new skills and testing out images I've dreamed up in my head. 

I got the perfect chance to do so when my best friend, Erin, was looking to do a little studio practice herself, on both sides of the lens. In the interest of exploring how light and the absence thereof can change the mood and tone of an image, I wanted to keep the backdrops and poses quite simple. I also opted to shoot predominately in black and white - going back to my 35mm film roots - to further simplify the subject matter so that the sole focus of the series explored how various lighting setups could convey different sides of the story.

Not only was this a fun way to spend an afternoon getting to have some fun behind the lens without the pressure of creating enough client content, but the exercise helped me better develop my studio lighting style. Not to mention, it opened up a new realm for me, a different kind of portrait offering that I would love to share with my clients. These personal portraits, rather than being your typical "pose nicely in front of some pretty scenery" images, are more akin to painting or figure studies where the model lets her guard down to assume a comfortable pose, thereby conveying her natural demeanor. These fine art portraits would be a fun experience - both for myself and my subject - where the client could truly help create their own personal works of art that are not only moody and tonally beautiful, but are that much more personalized by having themselves as the subjects. 

Image a large canvas image in a beautiful ornate frame as the centerpiece of your living room, only instead of having some random model who is pretty but doesn't really represent anything to you, you yourself (or your spouse, child, cat etc.) are the focus of the image creating your own work of art. Perhaps that sounds daunting, like you wouldn't want to look at a photo of yourself every day. I can definitely understand that; I rarely let anyone else take my photo because I'm much more comfortable with my own captures. But I've found that having blown-up images of myself on the wall not only creates some pretty cool artwork, but also gives me confidence every day to be the same fierce person that I look like in my photos. 

I have to say, of all of my photo session offerings, these fine art portraits may just be my favorite.