12-Portraits: Joe, ballet dancer

Back in March I suggested a 12-portrait challenge to get me doing something out of my comfort zone and I’m delighted to say that I have just completed the first. Joe’s Mum got in touch with me after a mutual friend pointed out my Facebook post and suggested she get in touch with me. We met on a cold, blustery day in early April for an initial chat and for me to take some test shots to help me gauge how to approach the shoot. It was also an opportunity to find out the type of photography that Joe liked, I wanted to be sure that he was going to be happy with what we produced. As it turned out my idea of an urban-themed shoot went down well and my choice of black & white was also well received. Joe is also a fan of Instagram so I “grunged-up” a few shots for his Instagram feed from that first meeting. Scouting the right location was important and the time spent on this aspect was well rewarded with a very productive final shoot lasting around an hour and three quarters. After playing with a few post-processing ideas I settled on a toned black and white using a Lightroom preset as the starting point for the final shortlist.   The final portfolio has been well-received by Joe, his family and my peers and I have to confess to being well pleased with the first challenge. The bar has been set high so I’m now looking for the second challenge – back to Facebook I think!

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