Our friend Jim Burns has been busy creating his film “Serious Drugs – The film about BMX Bandits“, a very personal piece of work for him.

With a premier screening at Glasgow Film Theatre, Jim needed a portrait to go with some of the written material. We’ve all got photographs, but so few of us have good quality images which we would actually choose to use. And, like most of us who spend time behind the camera, Jim isn’t particularly comfortable in front of the lens – something I’m sympathetic about because I used to hate being photographed (I still don’t particularly enjoy it, but I’ve stopped hating it).

For a first try, we decided to try a relaxed studio session. Simply taking time (and lots of images) over coffee is an easy way to overcome the discomfort of a reluctant portrait subject. Occasionally this time will yield a nice image, but the whole point is to relax the subject in front of the camera.

Jim is a huge fan of my portraits of dogs and horses, so Jim also brought Juno (their Cocker Spaniel) with him in the hope that she would stay still long enough for me to photograph her. I think having her present helped distract Jim from worrying about being the subject of a photograph (an approach I’ll possibly use in the future).

So, even if you don’t enjoy being photographed, get in touch. We never rush our portrait sessions – while you may never be completely comfortable being the subject of a portrait, we will take all the time you need to relax you and get the shots.