Aesthetic portrait photography
Aesthetic portrait photography
Welcome to Spetses. I am a photographer currently based in the Netherlands. I offer my services to discerning individuals looking to have their finest selves eternalised with the highest aesthetic standards. To that end, I offer my ‘eye’, which I have sought to refine through years of experience. The ‘eye’ is the fingers for the pianist, and my thinking is that it can be trained. This entails not only seeing fine pictures, paintings, and so on, but also understanding what constitutes the highest quality in various domains of creation, with a specific focus on visual beauty.
My style of portrait photography involves natural light and often a location which bespeaks the sitter; it frequently involves spontaneous arrangements, with a view to making every element beautiful. My photos are exposed to the most meticulous attention to detail while perfecting overall composition. Unlike other photography services, I normally do not offer many photos as final products but rather submit the most elegant, choicest pieces to the client. I am also happy to take photos of pets and interior.
Please see below for examples of my portrait work. Should you have any questions about my service or would like to request an appointment, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Spetses
Shingo Nishioka
In an incessant search for perfection, experience and experimentation guide the photography at Spetses. After a photo-shoot, all pictures are submitted to several rounds of rigorous scrutiny so as to select the most outstanding options. Three such examples are shown here, with additional examples below.
Previous commissions
Taken in Trinity College, Cambridge, this photo is selected as one of the finest from our session, during which we experimented at various locations within the College. It was successful in capturing the sophisticated air the sitter exudes, while further underscoring his dual career as a professional pianist and a philosophy scholar. The scripts and warm brown in the background as well as the angle from which the picture is taken, add to that effect. His suit jacket and the foreground of the piano are deliberately made wholly black in the post-production phase, which helps reduce any distraction from irrelevant parts and invites the viewer’s attention to his well-trained hand and poised, pensive countenance.
Another finest example from the above session, taken in Trinity College Chapel. This time the sitter’s pianistic excellence is the principal object. The lights, candles and architectural structure all lead the viewer’s attention to him; and this, in conjunction with his self-assurance and effortlessness, gives rise to a splendid, heroic air. The gentle orange lights further adorn the picture with warmth and charm, while the shades (black and white) of the piano keyboard and floor tiles synchronise with those of his attire. The sitter is carefully placed not at the centre of the picture but slightly on the right, thereby allowing for delicate asymmetry. All these, taken together, warrant an aesthetic portrait most agreeable to the eye.
This session took place in a boutique hotel in Maastricht (the Netherlands), where an ideal background was found. As was the case with the previous pictures, the aim of this picture - and my photography in general - was to capture the air the sitter exudes, while ensuring that the environment complements it. Here, the sitter’s soft smile engenders a sense of tenderness, while her almost straight-on countenance suggests her professional confidence. The natural light from the left and ripples of the curtain add to the gentle air, and the combination of grey (curtain) and dark blue (wallpaper) help elevate her presence. The photo is composed with careful attention to geometry in the background, ensuring perfect balance and stability.
Process
At Spetses, portrait photography is viewed as a collaborative process in which the photographer and the client together explore opportunity and potential. The following steps are taken to ensure maximum satisfaction.
An initial consultation is offered to discuss the client’s expectations and what she or he is looking for. This may be in-person to see the potential location together, or online. We will then come to an agreement of when and how the assignment will be executed, with a particular attention to the location and attire. This consultation is also meant to establish a trust-based relationship, and it is free of charge.
Further correspondence may follow for more detailed planning, as required.
I. Initial consultation
This is the photo-shoot in accordance with prescribed arrangements. Before the shooting begins, further consultations concerning what to wear may take place. As such, it is preferred that there be approximately 3 hours secured for the entire shooting.
The principal purpose for the photo-shoot is to collect as many outstanding candidates as possible to choose from for the final products. As many as a few hundred photos may be taken in a two-hour session.
All these pictures subsequently go through several rounds of a rigorous screening process, whereby sub-optimal options are excluded and only those pictures surpassing a certain aesthetic threshold are kept. This is to ascertain that the final products remain most elegant even after a few decades.
II. Photo-shoot
An array of initially-selected pictures are presented to the client for their primary impression. Unless requested otherwise, this is accompanied by the photographer’s considerations as to which photos are particularly aesthetically pleasing.
The client then submits her or his preferences, after which their selected photos will be exposed to a thorough post-production phase to ensure every detail is assiduously attended to. This editing process is to ensure, among other things, that each element of each picture ‘speaks’ in an appropriate way. For instance, the details of the sitter’s attire or the colour of books in the background may speak too much, thereby detracting from the purpose of the picture. By adjusting the balance between these elements, the editing process secures a harmony of all individual elements within the frame, making them ‘noiseless’, while speaking eloquently.
III. Secondary consultation
IV. Final submission
Having completed the post-production phase, the final products, in the form of digital files, are submitted to the client. The client may request any additional changes she or he may desire.
Additional notes about the service
At Spetses, each client receives personalised experience and service of the highest quality. Please do not hesitate to ask for any specific arrangements.
Up to 2 hours of shooting, with 3 edited photos: € 990 (including taxes, travel and other expenses)
Pricing
Framing
By default digital files are sent to the client as final products. However, printed photos and framing can be offered as a separate service upon consultation.
Aftercare service
Any after-care service, such as resizing and cropping pictures for web-use, are offered free of charge.
Travelling service
Any photo-shoots outside the Netherlands (within the EU) could be arranged upon consultation. In this case, additional travel costs and travel fee would be required.
Contact
If you have any questions or would like to request an appointment, please send an email with your full name, title (Mr, Ms/Mrs) and the purpose of photo-shoot to:
nishiokashingo@gmail.com