Portraits and People

Jan

Portraits and People

James Abbott

James Abbott recently helped judge our ‘Night Lights photo contest. Today we introduce you to some of his professional work – stunning and creative portrait photography.

I’m a Cambridge based photographer specialising in people and portraiture, and also work as Technique editor for Practical Photography magazine, where I’ve worked for the past four and a half years. It’s a varied role that provides me with opportunities and challenges to shoot almost every conceivable subject. One week I could be photographing motorsport, and the next it could be landscapes.

I’ve always been interested in art, and became interested in photography when I went to college and decided to take a degree in photography at The Surrey Institute of Art & Design. Since then I’ve worked freelance, which I still do, qualified as a college lecturer and then started working for Practical Photography.

When my interest in photography began, digital was a faint spec on the horizon because quality just wasn’t there. Film was the only way to shoot and it taught me discipline with exposure and composition. But once the digital revolution took hold and decent cameras were being produced, I made the switch and never looked back.

I now shoot with a Nikon DSLR and mostly use prime lenses because they’re fantastic for portraiture. All my work goes into Lightroom 4 for editing and processing, and finishing touches are made in Photoshop CS6. I find the level of control I have over my work and the fast turnaround time liberating, especially after spending so much of my teens and early twenties hidden away in a darkroom.

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See more of James’ professional and commercial work at his website James Abbott Photography and visit his facebook page for the latest updates and photos.