I never go into a portrait photo shooting without preparation. I decide what I want to shoot before the actual shooting. I try to learn something about the person and the intention for the shooting. With that information I can start thinking about the concept. Sometimes I also have a certain scene in mind and then look for the right model.
There can be several scenes within one shooting but all typically have a different set up. Make up, hair style, clothes, back ground, lighting, posing and so on, need to be decided. All of that should support the idea of that particular scene and help to create the desired viewer’s perception. If I have enough time or the scenes need more thorough preparation, I will create a mood board. A mood board is a collection of various images, addressing parts os the shooting’s aspects, e.g. photos of a certain hair style or different back grounds, or just the composition. All these different images are placed on one print out and help me and my client to imagine the desired outcome.
Above you can see the mood boards for two of the scenes I was shooting with Ella. In this case I had decided the model first and then developed the scenes.
Below the mood board you can see the final images.