This portrait of Minnette was published full-page in the “Hotshots” section of Digital Camera World Magazine in 2008. I photographed it less than two years after starting photography as a hobby. I used a 1000-watt continuous light through a huge softbox. That light was so hot, it warmed up the whole house! But it taught me a lot about lighting, and today, I realise we often overcomplicate things.

Interestingly, the portrait conveys a sense of melancholy and sadness, but Minnette has always been a vibrant and energetic person. Photographs do lie. That particular night, she was on her way to bed in an old t-shirt she used to sleep in, and I asked her to pose for me. She reluctantly agreed, put on some mascara, and this was the result.

At that stage, I was seriously following Andrzej Dragan and used a Photoshop preset “Draganizer” which mimicked the texture and feel of Dragan’s portrait style. Obviously, my black & white conversion worked well too, and to this day, it is one of my favourite portraits ever.

ISO 400, 1/140 sec at f/5.6. Canon 20D, 85mm. Handheld.
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