I used to think that any old Tom, Dick or Harry could take a decent photograph until I first stopped using the fully automatic button on my 'Canon D...s...5...something or other'. - Brigit Strawbridge
It was mother's day today. For her present I wanted to take some portraits of my mum. Together we chose places that she felt at home and places that were particularly relevant or significant to who she is... outside with nature, home by a cosy fire or at her favourite cafe drinking a soya milk, half shot cappuccino! As with all portraits, the arty part of me also wanted to see if I could capture certain parts of her personality through the lens. After all, if I can't capture an essence of my own mum in a photo I probably should be looking at a different career!
On a practical level it is definitely easier to do a photo shoot with a family member as you can boss them around and be pretty blunt about what you are trying to achieve with each shot. You can fumble, change your mind and generally be a little more unprofessional ;-) Unfortunately, there are some harder things to consider when photographing people close to you because you desperately want them to approve of the portraits... even more than usual (especially if it's a gift on mother's day!) Luckily, my mum is happy with these and has very kindly let me share them on here.
I had a lovely day and I hope my mum did too. She was an amazing model; patient and creative, and I think the end results are really beautiful.
As always I am proud to show off my mum... isn't she gorgeous!!!
