Portrait Mode.

A week or so ago, my manager approached me with a rather unusual request. Her daughter, a high school senior, had been firmly against senior portraits, but the yearbook (and her mother) needed one and now they were in a bind. They only had a couple of weeks, didn’t have a professional budget, and her daughter was feeling awkward about it. Turns out one of our colleagues, a former photo producer, suggested I do it—minimal cost, easy access, and I’m apparently quite friendly.

Upon learning this, I was both flattered and horrified by this notion. After all, I’m a designer, not a photographer. I know a lot of photographers and I don’t pretend to play in their league. The problem was, at the end of the day I could not leave my manager without portraits for her daughter. Teamwork and all that. So I agreed.

To prepare for what was going to be my first photoshoot outside of my own personal projects, I asked for some shots they liked, poses they were looking for, the things my photo friends requested from their clients (or so I was told). I furiously googled youtube videos to make sure I knew how to use my camera for portraiture not just travel photography, and I quickly learned the best way to use my brand new 35mm lens.

The day arrived with temperatures in the teens. Three outfits, three backgrounds. Game on.

We braved golden hour against a graffitied industrial wall outside the office, and froze on a bridge over train tracks. The weirdest was LinkedIn-type shots inside our office, but we couldn’t stand to be outside any longer. Two hours later, I had hundreds of shots and a new appreciation for good art direction. Time to edit and pray these worked out. I was half prepared to disappoint.

I’m actually quite proud of these photos and maybe more importantly, with the way I stretched myself and worked creatively outside of my comfort zone. I’m not sure I’m ready to do any photoshoots beyond friends on vacation and my cats, but this was a really great way to stretch my eye.