Click here to see the complete photograph ‘Small Skipper on Cornflower’ by Janet Broadbent.
In May, Jannine Timms gave a presentation on ‘Portrait, Studio and Wedding Photography’. A keen amateur photographer, Jannine turned professional three and a half years ago and, since that time, has developed a local business specialising primarily in portrait and studio work. While undertaking some wedding photography for friends, she finds this type of work can sometimes be difficult commercially, due to the nature of the occasion and the number of people involved. Her preference is therefore to act as a ‘second shooter’ at weddings whenever possible, using natural light for the photographs rather than flash. However, Jannine’s main business derives from portrait work, particularly of children, taken informally in the home environment. Again, she avoids flash for this purpose and typically works at speeds of around 1/60 second at 100 ASA using Canon 5D and Canon 5D Mk 2 cameras, with a Canon 500D as back-up. Portraits often involve a degree of post-production work to remove lighting irregularities, skin blemishes, tattoos, etc., and for this work Jannine uses Lightroom and Photoshop for software processing. For more formal portraiture, however, Jannine prefers to hire a studio as she lacks this facility currently – although it does form part of her future plans.
Jannine is very interested in commercial studio photography and promotes her work in various trade magazines. For this purpose, she uses the studio electronic flash equipment and either hires a recognised model, or forms a relationship with an aspiring model who similarly wishes to promote herself. Overall, this was a most interesting and refreshingly honest account of the transition from being an amateur to a professional photographer, accompanied by a wealth of photographs and details of lessons learnt along the way, that was much appreciated by Jannine’s audience.
The next meetings of the Society are on 1 June when member Randall Miles ARPS AFIAP will give a second presentation on his photographic experiences entitled ‘Tales of Future Excursions to the Wilds’, followed on 6 July by professional photographer Dan Evans, who will present ‘Lens Lore: Using the Lens for Best Creative Effect’. Both meetings will be held at 7.30pm in the Cartwright Hotel, Aynho. In addition, two Outdoor Workshops are planned for 15 June and 20 July, details of which will appear on the Society’s website. Everyone is welcome to attend the Society’s meetings and activities, so do please come along and meet us all.