Now, I think it’s safe to say I’m mainly a portrait photographer. I photograph people. Most often, planned, to some extent. What could reasonably be called modelling shoots, with models. And that feels kind of strange to say. Well, type.

Going back a couple of years, I would have said “I don’t do people”. Technically, I had photographed people, of course, but it wasn’t something I liked doing, or wanted to do. I’d even shot a wedding once, but I felt like I’d got away with it with some lucky shots, and I had no plans to do it again.

I’d done a bit of street photography, but that avoids actually interacting with people, though a smile and nod when they notice you photographing them seems to get a decent reaction, rather than looking away and looking embarrassed about it.

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One day when I was browsing Instagram, my friend Lauren had posted some stylish black and white selfies, and said in the caption that she was tempted to hire a photographer for an hour or so to go on a bit of an ego trip. I said I’d do it. She said she couldn’t really do that, wouldn’t know where to start, and didn’t really want to.

Then we were planning to meet up, so I asked again, and she said yes, she’d like to have a go.

So we did.

And it worked.

We got plenty of photos we were both really happy with, and we had fun doing it. Thinking of ideas for angles and places to pose was quite enjoyable.

You can read more about the story of that day, and see a lot more photos from it here.

We did another shoot not too long after, and got even better photos.

Again, you can see more here. At that point, I decided I actually liked doing this thing, and had to start working out how to find more models. You can read the story (and see lots of photos!) of how I found Holli. And since that went so well, I kept going.

By that point, I had to admit, I did do people. And I still do.