A portrait in a pub in York

May 25, 2018 | Personal Branding, Thoughts

It’s been an interest of mine to want to do portraits in unusual spaces and one of those spaces I’ve always liked the look of is to take a portrait in the quiet corner of a pub! In this case, a pub in York called the Knavesmire where a bunch of photographers all got together to experiment with off-camera light.

This is where I enter, so I walk late into the class about off camera speedlights and their settings (something I’ve already done for a long time) and wow there’s quite a number of photographers learning something new or pushing their boundaries of working with speedlights. I kinda smile and quickly squeeze into the back of the room to watch for a bit. Then it was time for the practical part, putting what was learned into practice. My favourite part. There were two models and they were quickly monopolised but for me, one gentleman walked across my path and I wanted to shoot a portrait of him. Took a quick breath and introduced myself and asked if I may take his portrait. I’m really happy he said yes and had patience with me for just about 7 or 8 minutes from start to finish. I took about 10 or 12 shots in total, 5 of him holding his camera and the other few without. For the first photo it took two photos to set up the light levels and placement where I wanted, one to learn I needed to shield the lens (buy a lens hood Cathie!) so that the light didn’t go straight into the camera and the next shot was the one.

A portrait of Kevin, in a pub in York.

I wasn’t quite done yet though, for the next portrait I wanted the background bar lights to be placed a bit better, in the composition so I moved him and the lights about 2 meters away to a different table. One shot, move the light, shoot again, tilt the light, another shot .. great. Oh but the table is cluttered, so I tidy it a little (uh meaning I swept everything along the table so the bit in the photo was clear), then shot again! Much closer but ugh I cropped his fingers off .. may I have another shot? Sure. Take another shot and below is the shot I’ve seen floating in my imagination of what I know I can capture .. and there it is, I’ve taken it .. a mini happy dance ensues and two smiling photographers, one who’s just had his portrait taken and me who got the shot in the bag.

A personal branding portrait of Kevin, inside a pub in York.

Thank you Kevin for accepting my request to take your portrait and I hope it’s one you are happy with for a few minutes of your time.

Who would love to work with me to capture some on location personal branding portraits to represent you to the world? It could be in your favourite pub, it could be on a swing in the playground or even from the front seat of your car in the country. Where do you feel most like yourself and ask me to capture that moment so that when people want to connect with you, they see the person that you like most. This is your moment to be truly your best self.

I’m based in York, happy to travel to Leeds and love capturing relaxed portraits of people on location.