My first love with photography is portraiture. It always has been. And since taking up photography I have enjoyed the process of spending time with people, getting to know them relatively quickly and capturing an authentic quality about them in my camera. However, there is something quite satisfying about photographing people I already know well, like one of my oldest friends, Trudi Jackson, who also happens to be a talented actor. Trudi was recently kind enough to let me work with her for longer than I normally do when shooting headshots. Poor woman must have been exhausted after our day, which of course included a couple of breaks, (I’m not a total tyrant!) during which we fetched her daughter from school and ballet. And who, lucky for me, is equally obliging. Working with Trudi for an extended period gave me plenty of opportunity to play and learn, so I was grateful for her time, and her daughter’s too, of course!
Here are a handful of head shots with some very different looks, chosen by Trudi’s agent, followed by portraits for my own purposes including a couple of the future talent that is Ms. L, who may well follow in her mum’s footsteps by the looks of things.
(c)SJField 2017
Sarah Furniss Photography 
I love how you captured the little girls smile! so sweet. I wanted to get into doing headshots but I have never done it before. Do you have any tips?
Tips, mmmmm … make lots of mistakes and keep practising and look at other people’s work constantly. I’ve been studying and working on this for a few years now and feel like I’m only just getting to a place where I’m ready to really start getting to grips with it. But from a practical point of view, make use of window light and a reflector. Learn to read and appreciate natural light before you start to tackle artificial light if you can. Hope that helps.
Thank you!
Lovely work.
Thanks, John
Yes, lovely work. 1,3,4 and 6 are particularly striking for me. It’s also great to see the child and the woman. Was just thinking it could be interesting to interview Trudi on how she relates to the photographs of her daughter in terms of her own childhood.