Portrait photography of a man with saxophone

Portrait photography of a man with saxophone

How to take beautiful photographs of a person in the city

I met Denis in one of the WhatsApp chats. He posted an advertisement stating that he plays the saxophone and can embellish any event with his presence. When I say “any,” I’m not exaggerating – it’s true. During our meeting, he mentioned that he even played at funerals.

I wanted to create a story about a saxophonist against the backdrop of London landmarks. We strolled past Tower Bridge, went to the City area, and, of course, couldn’t miss Big Ben. Luckily, Denis brought along his friend who helped me with lighting: holding a flash or reflector.

Why do we need such photos? Personal branding is very popular nowadays: it’s beneficial to show your face and talk about yourself, and your work. Expert blogs are maintained by doctors, psychologists, businessmen, and so on. They all need beautiful portraits.

Once, I photographed scientists in scientific laboratories. One might wonder why scientists need photos since they’re not public figures. But I found several reasons why they need them: for presentations at conferences, on social media (for example, LinkedIn), in grant applications, and on the university website. And since few people think about this, these individuals will visually attract more attention and interest. And if a beautiful portrait, albeit not decisive, but still a small positive factor, influences, for example, the decision to grant funding (several million rubles) for research, then agree – that’s very cool. By the way, here’s a photoshoot with scientists.