Val has been a volunteer in the Oxfam shop in Penarth (a beautiful little town near Cardiff) for more than 5 years. She was the answer to my call for help to my friend Heather: “I will came and visit but I also need to work on my portrait assignment…Any suggestion?”. At the beginning Val was not entirely persuaded she could be good portrait material, and I was clearly not giving the impression of being that special photographer capable to transform any creature in a beautiful portrait. Anyway, we had plenty of time to relax, cool down and chat about the shop and her volunteering. All her colleagues worked hard to ensure the needed bit of Oxfam visibility in the picture: money tin, badge, pins… so set was buzzing… Being myself an NGO person also helped to bond (ActionAid was seen as a competitor, but of the good sort after all).
Two things really helped Val to relax and pose a bit. One was cheeky joke of a man volunteer, according to which Val was ready to feature on “page three” of the Oxfam magazine. The other one was my confession that I was desperately trying find that “magic spot, magic angle” (as mentioned in our on line class) that makes a great picture.
I had to work in the space near the till where Val was serving, and I tried to use the big poster at her back as part of the composition. Sometimes it worked: I felt that Val rightly belonged to a picture of happy boys” as she spent so much time in their support. Sometimes, however, it was all too cluttered. I was not great with light, ideally I should have had some more light on her face to make it stand out.. mmm… definitely lighting is an area for improvement. But all in all lot of learning and fun also in this portrait session.
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