I first met Christ (rhymes with “wrist”) back at the start of 2016 when he came to me needing a photo session that would be used for his website, social media as well as an image he could use for some upcoming books he was publishing. It was a great session and we kinda free-formed a bit and got some great images. Christ was very happy with the session.
Here we are, three years later, and Christ contacted me saying he’s preparing for a move to the United Kingdom and he wanted me to create some new head shots that he could use once he gets relocated and settled in his new home.
First up was a new head shot. I always start my head shots on a solid white background. Personally, I love a white head shot. So clean and elegant. Direct. Contrasty. Gorgeous.
He wanted something a little more moody in tone, so I turned off my background lights and just concentrated on using my primary light.
While we were shooting, he mentioned his unique glasses that bought in Scottland some time ago, and after he put them on to show them to me, I immediately told him to leave them on. They were fantastic!
I really loved the mood and tone that turning off the background lights created. The color of the background worked really well with the workwear shirt he was wearing and I knew these would make fantastic black & white images. The glasses, his shirt, the background, his beard - it all came together really well.
Then we started talking about hats. Christ was wearing a hat of exactly the same style that I love: newsboy caps. I’ve spent decades trying to find the right style of cap. There are so many variant versions; the cut, the brim length, the sides and how they taper, etc. Trust me, I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve been through tons of caps that never fit the way I wanted them to.
So he’s showing me his cap and I’m like “put that back on and let’s do some more head shots with it on” and he’s like “sure”
Dude! Look at that image! Everything is coming together so well! His whole style is coming out in this image.
Here is the same shot in black & white
And there it is - the shot of the session. This is perfect. The tones, the look, the glasses, the cap, the workwear shirt, his beard - it’s a mix of contemporary and vintage. It’s a fantastic head shot and I’m really happy with this. Christ loved it too. It’s unique. He’s a writer. He walked into my studio with this style and it took some baby steps to get back to this, but this is the portrait we need people to see. This is Christ circa 2019. This is Christ moving to the UK. This is the writer you are going to meet on his next book tour. This is perfect. I love the directness of his eyes. And how they are framed by these fantastic glasses.
As we started to end the session I also had him put on his coat and I got some shots of him with that as well:
I was so in love with this look. Everything just works and flows and his style is fantastic. And to think that when he arrived he took all these articles off - it became a process of putting his face back together so that we can see the real him. So excellent.
Christ was very happy with this session and so was I. He’s located in the UK now and he’s ready to hit the ground running with new images for his website and his future books that reflect the point he is at in his life now. I can’t think of a better way to land when relocating than armed with visuals that help you state “Here I am, and this is who I am”. Nothing but the best of luck to Christ in his new life in his new city in his new country.
Follow his adventures on his website.
Are you relocating soon? If you’ve relocated in the past, how was the transition? Got questions about Christ’s session? Leave a comment below and let’s talk shop.