Each season carries its own distinct light, mood, and stories. With each shift in nature, my outlook and creative impulses change. A fresh start, abundant energy, reflection, solitude, joy—perhaps all of these at once. The turning of the seasons is more than just a visual transformation; it’s a shift in emotion, a new rhythm of life. I know it is for me.
When I create a portrait, I don’t just look for beautiful light or a well-balanced composition. Those elements matter, of course, but what truly makes a portrait resonate is something deeper. I’m not just capturing a face; I’m capturing a moment, an emotion, a truth.
Sometimes, a portrait takes me back to a crisp morning walk, the feeling of cooler air on my skin, a quiet moment of reflection. Other times, it reminds me of the warmth of a childhood memory, the way autumn always brought with it a sense of change and nostalgia. Or maybe it simply evokes that unmistakable autumn feeling—hot drinks, flickering candles, the comfort of a wrap. Nature shapes my portraits, not just as a backdrop but as a storyteller in its own right.
The Way I See It
Photography is full of choices, and for me, the most important one is deciding what I want to express. Before I even pick up my camera, I ask myself what draws me to the scene, to the person, to the moment.
Am I drawn to the warmth of golden afternoon light catching in someone’s hair, the way they wrap their scarf around themselves against the cool air? If so, I lean into that warmth, letting the light wrap around them, making the moment feel as cosy and inviting as the season itself.
Or am I feeling something more introspective, more solitary? Maybe my subject is lost in thought, framed by the vastness of an open field or the starkness of bare trees. Perhaps they are small within the frame, almost swallowed by the landscape, their quiet moment amplified by the space around them. The same location, the same season, but a completely different emotion—one that depends entirely on what I choose to see and how I choose to capture it.
What Draws Me In
Every time I take a portrait, I find myself returning to three questions:
- Where are we? – The landscape, the light, the air all play a role.
- Who are we? – Not just my subject, but who we are in that moment, in that space.
- What are we feeling? – The emotion I want to preserve, the mood I want to convey.
Autumn, for me, is a season of stillness and energy all at once. My mind fills with ideas, and I find myself drawn to portraits that reflect that contrast—soft golden light illuminating quiet moments of thought, or movement and laughter against air that is longing to be crisp. Vast, warm, uplifting, but also concentrated. A pool of strong light in the darkness. My thoughts in a quiet world. I notice how people close their eyes with relief when the breeze catches their hair, the way their breath lingers a little longer in cooler air. These small details are what make a portrait feel real, what make it feel like autumn.
For me, autumn is where light and shadow meet, where presence and introspection coexist. And that’s what I seek to capture and it begins this weekend.
What does autumn feel like to you?
Until next time,
