There are many arguments out there as to what exactly makes a good portrait. In the early days of portraiture, it was a very precise science, lighting was placed exactly so as to throw just the right amount of shadow, at the right angle, in the right direction on the sitter, quite often producing a beautifully composed, but soulless, shot. It is really only in recent times that people have decided to push the boundaries of portraiture, giving the photographer more options to capture more of the spirit and personality of the sitter. I went through the training regime of the ‘old brigade’ but always felt that there was more to portaiture than just capturing an image of the person who was in your studio. I began to experiment, to engage more with the subjects in the studio, to delve more into their personality; and the more you found out about them, the more able I became to capture and produce a portrait that reflected more of the sitter’s own unique presence. I have photographed them all – from the reticent to the exuberant – my subjects all have unique qualities that need to be explored to produe the definitive shot. My team all have this innate skill and between us we have produced some of the most compelling, award-winning work to come out of studios in recent years. Our work is more than a snapshot in time – we capture and reflect our subjects’ personalities and that’s why they come back to us for more work. Our portraits are more than just photographs, they are documentaries telling a potted story about the sitter, recording their moment in time for posterity.