A portrait session doesn’t always need a milestone or a business reason behind it.

For this studio shoot, we created a fashion-inspired series of portraits with the feel of a model portfolio, working through around seven different looks over approximately two hours.

Some were softer and more natural, others were darker and more editorial, with changes in clothing, lighting, backgrounds, posing and expression giving each set its own feel.

Creating a varied model portfolio

A strong model folio needs to show more than one look.

Across approximately two hours, we worked through around seven different sets, changing clothing, lighting, backgrounds, posing and the overall feel as we went.

One set might be softer and more natural, another darker and more editorial, while others leaned further into fashion and commercial-style imagery.

Some sets focused on closer beauty portraits, while others incorporated wider full-length and three-quarter images. A few of the finished photographs have the kind of feel you could just as easily imagine being part of a fashion or clothing campaign.

The aim throughout the shoot was variety, without simply changing an outfit and repeating the same photographs again.

Studio lighting + natural light

We used a mixture of professional studio lighting and natural window light throughout the session, which gave us even more room to change the feel of each set without needing to leave the studio.

Different backdrops, chairs, fabrics and areas of the studio gave us plenty to work with, from the rich brown-on-brown portraits through to much lighter fashion-inspired photographs against draped neutral fabric.

It’s one of the reasons I love having a studio where I can completely change what we’re creating from one setup to the next.

Creating fashion-inspired portraits

For shoots like this, posing becomes a huge part of the process.

Rather than relying on a handful of poses and repeating them with every outfit, I work with what’s being worn, the lighting and the overall feel of each setup.

Sometimes that’s quite structured and deliberate. Sometimes there’s more movement. Sometimes the tiniest change in where a hand sits, the angle of a shoulder or where someone is looking completely changes the photograph.

And no, you don’t need to arrive knowing how to do any of that.

I direct throughout the shoot, so you can concentrate on being in front of the camera rather than spending two hours wondering what on earth you’re supposed to be doing with your hands.

Portraits that don’t have to be corporate

While I photograph plenty of headshots and personal branding sessions in the studio, this is another side of my portrait work that I really love.

Beautiful portraits can exist simply because you want photographs of yourself that feel a little more considered, fashion-inspired or different from how you’re normally photographed.

You don’t need a new website, a LinkedIn update or an announcement to justify having them taken.

And for models wanting to build or update a folio, a longer studio session gives us the time to create several genuinely different looks rather than one setup with a pile of outfit changes.