This set of images featuring Ashley is from an informal photoshoot that took place in Norwalk, CT, at Black Sheep Atelier. These photos came out towards the end of the session and were all taken with one single light bouncing from a large reflector umbrella to give us an even light spread and diffuse shadows. The few minutes that took us to get to this stage were worth it, by the time these pictures emerged, Ashley was feeling her way in front of the camera, giving us photos that project authentic character.

For just about anybody, standing in front of a camera can be an awkward situation. There's vulnerability involved, a feeling of being exposed or even impaired to be natural. As we become more and more accustomed to perfect images of people looking sharp, it's reasonable that we too want to be projected in the same way, so I guess the question is, how we do it?

I suppose the answer varies from case to case; one way that helps me find it is to stay engaged with the subject as I keep pressing the shutter even if I know I'm not yet getting any keepers. Usually, as the shutter count increases, so does my chances for the subject to let loose.

I’ll always say that my definition of portrait photography has nothing to do with a uniformed way to do things. Being that each person is different from another, so does portrait photography. For that reason, portrait photography is exciting to me. It presents me with the challenge to build on previous layers and create work that’s different from what I did before.

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