Over the years I have photographed many personalities and “names”, frequently from TV and the radio.
As a general rule I find that I prefer to shoot radio folk as opposed to their brethren on TV and there’s a simple reason for this:
The TV people are so aware of their “look” that as soon as they sit in front of the camera they produce a “face” – they almost certainly have several that they can call upon but generally they will offer up the one they feel is most appropriate to them.
Having spent a large part of their time in front of the camera they know how they look and what attitude suits them best.
The lighting, the angle, the smile, (or not), the arch of the eyebrow, the line of the jaw.
They’ve done it all before.
They know what makes them handsome or pretty, they can preen and pout and look a million dollars.
The ladies and gentlemen from the radio are generally less self aware, at least of their appearance.
So when you come to photograph them it is with less of a feeling that the end result has been pre-ordained in front of a mirror by the sitter.
It feels more of a collaboration between you and your client to get the shot.
So it was with Jim Naughtie.
Jim has been one of the voices of the BBC’s flagship morning radio show “Today” for many years now and although he is famous, his face is probably not all that well known.

Jim is a charming chap, who makes for a very entertaining sitter in the studio.
But I have to say getting a good shot of him wasn’t as straightforward as I had expected.
In front of a stills camera (as opposed to on TV) he looks nervous. I say looks nervous. He almost certainly isn’t, it’s just that he doesn’t seem comfortable.
He fidgets and adjusts himself continually. So my first job was to calm him down and get him to simply be himself.
We tried “smiling pix” but this caused his eyebrows to come up in a way that looked downright Satanic ! Deleted a lot of them.
We shot quite a lot of images but somehow I felt that we never got a real winner – he never looked quite as comfortable in his skin as he should.
Having said that,  Jim was very happy with the pictures and I have had a request from a literary magazine who want to use a picture for their cover.
They were very flattering about it … but somehow I still feel a little dissatisfied.
Opened the pictures again this morning and there is still this niggling feeling that I didn’t quite get it right.
Unusual thing for a photographer to say in public isn’t it !?

The pix of Dominic Raab however are a success story,
Dominic is the new MP for Esher and Walton and a man to watch.  Very smart guy.
I have photographed a lot of politicos in my time (and I do mean A LOT) and the new young ones have something of the Andrex puppy about them.
Bouncy, adorable, not too good on their feet, a bit clueless and probably need a smack.
Well Mr Raab surprised me by seeming to be a proper, fully rounded person who I wouldn’t mind voting for. And I am not a Tory voter !!
However coming newly onto the political scene he did need to promote himself locally before the election.
As I said I’ve done this before and knew pretty much the sort of stuff he needed immediately.
Pix in the community; working to promote local causes and interests.
Some newsy picture stories that the local papers can pick up on.
Then something more relaxed to show that Dominic is a real human being.
Someone you wouldn’t mind having to dinner.

Well happily Dominic IS a bloke you wouldn’t mind having to dinner but he was a nervous sitter in the studio.
Dominic, like so many sane people, was nervous in front of camera.
A studio is an alien environment.
Sitters feel that they need to look good in every shot so I need to re-assure them that there is no pressure to perform. I will dump the bad shots but we will get good ones.
It’s about making contact and watching.
Watching intently how your sitter responds.
Watch for expressions.
If it’s getting stale change something and come back to that shot later.
Sometimes I can get “the shot”, the winner, within five minutes.
Other times you can feel it grow over the shoot, as together you edge towards the ideal image.
Dominic needed coaching through the shoot but we got there and we did a good job – the two of us.
A good portrait is a collaboration and unless you’ve got your sitter well involved you’re wasting your time.

Dominic Raab a face to watch – he will go far !