How to prepare for a portrait sitting
What to wear, when to book, what to bring, and why the first twenty minutes of a sitting rarely make the gallery.
Nadia Ferrant
2 min read
Most of the work in a good portrait happens before anyone arrives at the studio. A little preparation on your side means we spend the sitting making pictures, and less of it adjusting collars and waiting for nerves to settle.
Book the right hour
We photograph portraits in daylight wherever we can. In the studio that means mid-morning or the late afternoon, when the west window throws a long, soft edge across the room. At home or outdoors we pick the hour once we know which way the windows or the street face. If you have a choice of dates, tell us, and we will choose the one with the better light.
What to wear
Solid colours in mid tones photograph well. Large logos and fine stripes pull the eye away from your face.
Bring a second outfit that feels different from the first, a sweater and a shirt, say. We change halfway through so the gallery has range.
Wear what you are comfortable sitting and moving in. A jacket you never wear will look like a jacket you never wear.
Families: coordinate colours loosely. Matching outfits tend to flatten a group.
Bring something that is yours
An instrument, a tool, a dog, a skateboard you have ridden for fifteen years. Objects give hands something to do and give the picture a reason. If it matters to you, it usually reads in the frame.
The first twenty minutes
Almost nobody is relaxed at the start, and that is expected. We spend the opening of a sitting talking, testing the light and taking frames that rarely make the gallery. Somewhere around twenty minutes in, people stop checking where the camera is. That is when the keepers start, which is why a sitting runs for ninety minutes.
After the sitting
A preview of a few frames lands within a week, and your gallery of 25 edited frames follows within two. Every frame is graded by hand so skin looks like skin. Your print release covers personal use, and archival prints can be ordered straight from the gallery.
If something on this list does not fit your plans, write to us before the day. We can adjust the sitting so you arrive sure of the plan.
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