November 29th was my first portrait photography workshop in Bucharest.

This workshop is a part of the charity project of the British and American schools “Romania through the lenses of expats”

The main goal of the project is to raise money for selected Romanian charity organizations.

At the end of the project, a book with the best shots is published. This book is printed in a small print run; proceeds from sales are transferred to the charities.

This project allows to expats as well as Romanians to see Romania from a different perspective.

Participants are travel with cameras to different parts of the country and bring back amazing photos. Incredible landscapes, architecture, animals and residents of Romania - all this creates the content of the book.

For me, as an expat, this is a chance to understand the culture of Romania, to look into the details.

I want to thank Anda Ene, a great connoisseur of old Romanian national clothing, for helping organize the workshop. Anda subtly combines authentic things with modern trends and basic pieces.

I also thank the director of the modeling agency Ruedesmodeles Bucharest  - Cosmin Petre and the amazing model Sabrina.

Ximena Reyes for a great place and Nadia Marin for backstage pictures.

Participants went through theoretical part of the workshop. It consisted of sections:

- Technics for a portrait

- Composition

- Portrait Modes

- Aperture and background distance

- Focus points for portrait shooting.

We also examined the work of famous painters and photographers. We discussed how we can learn from them, what techniques of the composition we may use in our work.

Before shooting, I briefly shared my experience with the model and made recommendations for shooting.

Participants prepared three portraits: full-length, half-length portrait and headshot. 

I commented in detail on each work submitted for verification in terms of composition, correct settings (I look at photos in Lightroom and see all the settings - ISO, aperture, shutter speed, focal length, overexposures and dips in the shadows)

Here you may see unedited pictures of participants. I will not indicate errors here or praise individual participants. Everyone has a different level and different approach. 

In general, I am very pleased with all the works. Even beginners made a big effort and did a great job!  Keep it up!