I was a bit nervous about Laura doing these leaps in the gold high heels, but she was confident that she could do it, and they definitely added a glamorous punch to this vibrant image.

You don’t have to want to be a model to have a modeling portfolio. Sometimes you just want to have some great photos of yourself. That was the case for Laura Lim, who drove down from Kingston to shoot a beginner modeling portfolio with me. Laura’s never been in front of the camera before, at least not in a professional setting. When I met her for her pre-shoot meeting–which I think is an important step for getting both of us on the same page before the shoot–she didn’t know exactly what she was going to do with the photos. She just knew that she wanted them.

Sue Upton creating Laura Lim’s first look of the day.

Laura showed up at my studio with bags of shoes and accessories and a giant suitcase full of clothes. I encourage models to bring as much stuff as they want, because we can always sort through it to find just the right looks for the shoot. Laura took to this assignment like a fish to water, and as you can see, within a span of an afternoon, we were able to capture a number of very different photos for her. We worked with renowned hair and makeup artist Sue Upton, who is a master of transforming the girl next door into a femme fatale, sophisticated debutante, or any other look in-between. The super-sassy orange background shots are closest to Laura’s actual personality, but she easily pulled off the other looks with style and grace too.

I’m a huge fan of working with people who’ve never been professionally photographed. There’s something very appealing about unlocking a person’s photogenic potential and creating photos that make them excited about how they look on camera.

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