A Flash of Light, a Portrait, and a Quiet Realisation

I personally think I’m at my best when I work with inanimate things — houses, buildings, products, etc. Or at least, that’s what I thought until a few years ago.

I remember calling myself a “natural light” photographer, but the truth was that I had no clue or idea how to work with external illumination (strobes). Sure, I had seen some videos and thought, this is cool, but I didn’t really see the need for it.

Until one day, curiosity took over and I bought my first strobe — probably overkill for what I initially intended. But anyway, I got my flash — and who cares? I just wanted to try it and see what it could do.

The next thing I did was go out and test it. And believe me, I was shocked by the huge difference it made compared to relying only on natural light.

I started using it for property photography, and it was a real process of learning with an interesting curve. Sometimes I thought, yes, I’ve got it — these photos look amazing, and then the next day I’d feel completely disheartened by how bad the photos turned out. They didn’t even compare with the ones I took the day before.

But anyway, I was on a journey — and that journey took me one day to say yes to a headshot, not knowing it would completely change the way I looked at photographing people.

I couldn’t believe how much a person can change with good lighting — and how this might even change the way they see themselves.

I felt like this was an entirely new creative realm I hadn’t explored before. But I knew I wanted more — I wanted to explore it, to learn more, and to get better. So the next thing I did was tell everyone at the office:

“Alright everyone, I’ll be doing everyone’s photos again. I don’t care if you want to or not — in one month, go get your hair done, dress nice, and look ‘pretty’ — whatever that means for you.”

I was astonished by the response. Instead of complaining or showing no interest, most of them showed up on the day ready — some with different ties, the ladies looked amazing, and that was it. We ended up shooting around 30 people over two days. The receptionists were amazing — they took turns helping me style some of them.

It was a really good exercise for the company and for myself. I learned a lot during those days, and it helped me lose my fear of photographing people. I don’t think I’ve ever properly thanked any of them for being nice and for — inadvertently — becoming my guinea pigs for this experiment. Some of them have moved on with their lives and are working elsewhere, but if any of you are reading this: thank you.

See below a screenshot of the staff grid the company had before their photos were redone — and after. What do you think?

I never thought I’d be someone who enjoys photographing people. But learning how to light them properly changed everything — not just the images, but the way people see themselves in them. What started as a personal experiment became something more meaningful than I expected.

These days, I still love shooting houses, buildings, and objects — but now I know there’s something special about capturing a person in their best light. Something honest. Something powerful.

Maybe it’s just a photo.

Maybe it’s something more.

And who knows — maybe it’s worth asking how your own profile photo is doing these days.