We decided to organise a photo shooting early on Sunday morning, hoping that the summer heat would be bearable. Well, we were running late and it was hot as hell! Also, there were plenty of bugs in the green area where we met up!! Despite that, the photo session was pleasant, we managed to chat and Claudia was relaxed. She proved herself a brilliant model! I gather that from these images you can notice some aspects of her personality: her inner strength, her pride and a certain level of independence. Claudia, you are such an attractive warrior!!
I hadn’t been taking pictures for 9 months. I believe I had a creative block. Or maybe I was just stuck, generally speaking, in my life. This situation, especially when prolonged, is usually considered as bad. However, the unraveling of this process, let me realise that the deepest growth is highly LIKELY TO HAPPEN during our pauses. We believe that we are stagnant and we well might feel that nothing is happening, whilst we are silently moving onwards instead.
As I wanted to put myself back into the game gently, I asked Laura and Filippo, two longtime friends (who are both super cute, they are high school sweethearts, and in case you wonder, Yes, we all were in the same high school in Parma!) to pose for me and they accepted. We found a quiet field in Marore to have an undisturbed photo-shooting and the weather was enviable: at 6:30 pm we got 28 degrees Celsius with low humidity, there was a pleasant breeze, and…the glowy golden hour light was just around the corner!
Before getting started, I was really nervous, and I asked myself: “Am I still able to do that?”, “What if these pictures will not be of good quality?” But then, ONCE we started and actually the more we were into it, it was flawless! Not only their session went as smooth as silk, but it was such GOOD FUN! I am delighted with the outcome of these shots because they are candid and effectively bring out traits of Laura and Philip’s personalities in a spontaneous way. Also, their bond and love is worthy of admiration!
If you talk about one-offs, Simon comes to my mind. He is an inspiring young man, intuitive, intelligent, pro-active and…self-confident! We share a love for photography and it makes good to have a chat with him. As we had planned to meet, I seized the opportunity to try my newest Ebay impulsive purchase 🙈: a Canon Eos 5d Mark II (a real cool camera dated 2008!) as he was my guinea pig model, and I am grateful to him for that! We had a walk in one of my favourites Edinburgh spots, The Hermitage of Braid, the weather was not promising and I took a very few shots but I am pleased with the outcome!
Krithi graduated on time and with honours in Interior Design. She took her duty as a student seriously, kudos to her! It was a pleasure to take her graduation portraits and to see the satisfaction of her family. Besides being brilliant in completing her studies, Krithi is also beautiful: she was stunning in her robe and don’t you think that she could be a model or one of the Bridgerton’s actresses? Would you say that she did the make-up by herself?! Congratulations, young lady, and thank you for trusting me as a photographer (it wasn’t easy to work for you!!). Blessing for both your professional and personal plans!
I would define film photography as grainy and raw. Some of Yasaman and Giacomo’s photos taste old and new at the same time. Anyway, the golden hour light of that day was breath-taking! I am overall pleased with these results, considering that it was my 1st experiment with the eos 850. Enjoy!
A couple of weekends ago, I had the real pleasure to take some portraits of this gorgeous newlywed couple. Yasaman is Iranian whilst Giacomo is from Parma: granted to say, they are both beautiful! Working with them, at one point, I had the feeling that I was photographing two professional models😚 Their love is genuine and well-grounded. I wish them both that their bound can grow more and more and strengthen them! Enjoy their JOY!
We met 1 hour and a half before sunset in a urban area in Parma and took advantage of a stunning golden hour light. I am now becoming increasingly confident with my R6 Mark II, even though I did not renounce to try a new acquisition, a Canon EOS 850 film camera, hence 2 different photographic moments within the same shooting session.
When I asked Olivia if she wanted me to take portraits of her using the old analog camera Nikon F801s or the fresh new digital one, she giggled and whispered: “The film camera”! This reminds me of my mum, when she would take photos of me and my brothers on film during our childhood”. Well well, Olivia is the 2nd young model (she is a Gen Z!) to prefer film images, as I had the same response by Anagha a few weeks earlier (and she is the same age of Olivia). They must be both fun of soft images and of the film grain 🙂
We found some spots in the back garden and, under a grayish sky with a chilly air, we managed to work together and to laugh! Olivia is a pleasure to work with and her “joie de vivre” is bouncing out from some of the pictures, I find. We also got the help of an unsuspected photo assistant (my landlord Ian!). What more could we possibly need?!
Anagha is in her early 20s and is a student and one of the tenants in the house where I live. I love her common sense, simplicity and also her innocence. Last week-end, when I asked her to pose for me, she cheerfully accepted (blessed youth!). What hit me was that, when I asked her whether she preferred me to shoot her with my new digital body (R6 II) or with my old film Nikon camera (f801s), without hesitation, she replied : “Your film camera, please. This kind of pictures reminds me when I was a child and I was being shot in film by my dad”. Well, the rest is history 🙂 the results are below. She fit flawlessly into the spring context of our garden: she was indeed a flower between the flowers. And if you look carefully, in one photo some daisies emerge from her beautiful mane!
Robert is a friend who has recently graduated in psychology. It was a pleasure to take some portraits of him with my digital camera in Edinburgh’s city center. The weather was not promising (grayish, plus it drizzled for part of the shoot) but there is some charm emanating from the images. Robert, you were a good model, your gaze looking like some actor’s! I wish you all the Best for your present and future!!
Stéphanie is a French friend and one of my models. I believe that most of us, to some degree, dislike parts of our bodies and it can be normal to become reluctant to pose in front of the camera. It is a kind of step that you need to overcome. I wanted to keep practicing with my R6 II so I offered to take some portraits of her and this time she accepted more readily than the first time we had a shoot at the Botanical Gardens. Last Sunday afternoon it was chilly (7 degrees) with a slight wind so it was a real quick session: I took 42 shots in record time of 15 minutes 🙂 I had never taken portraits of an archer before! In some images she reminds me of some historical person, perhaps the keeper of a secret garden. Stéph, thank you for putting yourself out there, you are beautiful!
Below some portraits of energetic and vibrant Olivia. She will turn 23 this week and is in the prime of her life. The red never goes out of style and I find that this tutu gave her a badass attitude!! I took these shots on 14/01, using my Canon R6 II which proved to have an unbelievable autofocus with wide (and wild!) ISO options. Photo number 4 was selected by PhotoVogue. Enjoy!
Cathal is a friend from Northern Ireland who lives in Dundee. He came to Edinburgh and was very keen to visit the Botanical Garden, as he had never been there before. I offered to take some portraits of him, after some convincing, he accepted 🙂 He is one of the less complicated and most open minded people I have the pleasure to know. He is proverbially calm and humble, he is stedfast and has a positive attitude towards others. He inspires confidence and is trustworthy! He is a digital artist and an IT guy who always provides me with first aid for my blog which is (annoyingly enough!) a constant work in progress!! A couple of details that you can easily spot while scrolling down his pictures: 1) how outstanding Cathal’s deep blue eyes are?! 2) the yellow-orangey-reddish color cast of the leaves provide a strong, breathtaking background 3) how good is my old Nikon F801s?! 4) any encouraging feedbacks about the B&W ones?
For my 40th, I treated myself to a photo session with the highly talented Parma-based Martina Biasetti. When I look at these pictures, I think: “They are wonderful!!”. They are stunning and a valuable piece of art, I find. Martina captured the best in me. With these shots, she valued me a lot and that’s not just because she did a clever editing. In the poses, using light and shadows, out-of-focus effects, the choice of colours and use of black and white, she has brought out the best in me. I don’t recognise my usual faults 🙂 I LOVE this photo-shoot! And if something is beautiful, it’s worth sharing…Thank you, Martina, you did such a great job!!
This happens when your friend could be a model or could work in the fashion industry, as her photos look like a fashion shoot! It was a pleasure working with Laura, we took the time we needed and we found some quiet, perfect spots in the riverbed of the creek. The light in the middle of the morning. At mid-morning the light started to be harsh, but, surprise surprise, I used my flash light (What is this unknown device?!) and the outcome is pretty much enjoyable! Thanks also to Laura and her quiet, refined elegance!
Angela is beautiful in person and beautiful in colour photos, but in black and white photos she is even more beautiful. There is a magical and “eternal” touch in her black and white portraits. She is beautiful and very strong, she is involved in many projects. Positive and proactive, she comes with a great smile and the sacred “fire of art” is part of her personality! Enjoy these great shots dated June 2023!
Elena Arvasi Portrait Photographer 