More about Stephen R....
What do you love about your job?
Once I had to photograph 100 staff, all lined up at lunch break. One lady who was very pretty, straight out said she had a glass eye and her portraits were always terrible so just shoot one frame. I didn’t shoot any, and asked her to come back when everyone was gone. Cautiously she returned, as we chatted and did a few photographs, her face had changed and no one could tell she had a glass eye, with the right angle, light and mindset.
I showed her on the computer, and she promptly burst into tears. No one had ever taken the time, to consider her, and she was really beautiful.
This is what makes photography rewarding. You never know what someone has gone through before you meet them, but everyone deserves a decent image.
What types of shoots have you done and how did you make them special?
People shoots are my favourite as they keep my skills and mind engaged, every shoot is different and I like to capture the character and use light to bring out people's best. Sometimes the best shots come out of the a challenging situation, such as rain at a wedding and I like to turn this around to add drama and impact to images. Recently I shot a job for a family who was going to loose a loved one, whilst that was upsetting as he is an elite member of society, the family cherished the images as a strong memory of their loved one. Other times I shoot portraits weddings and events and people are overjoyed, often confiding at the end of the shoot that they were so nervous, but it was a good experience. I find photography rewarding in this way to make people happy and genuinely improve their self-esteem.
Awards, honors, and recognitions received
Almost every person I know, has thier lead profile image on social and professional channels photographed by me, that is a satisfying endorsement.
Professionally speaking, recognition for my photography has always been merit-based with clients. Such as flagship images for international campaigns for NGO agencies that yielded over a Million dollars, directly changing the lives of people in Outer Mongolia, Cambodia, Jamaica, Peru, and Rwanda. Making emotionally evocative, images that have ethical authenticity is of great value to me. That is the same for work conducted locally.
A fun fact about this photographer
After a month in the third world, I was on a food shoot, the customer wanted to discard the ice cream. I do not like to waste anything, so I ate 37 ice cream cones in a day, I enjoyed it immensely, but felt a bit special the next day:)
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