Out of my depth

Now that I am retired, the weekly arrival of AP is a highlight. I started with a Box Brownie at 10, and graduated through a folding 120 to an Exakta Varex VX, a Contax RX and now a Canon EOS 6D. My wife has promised me an upgrade for my 70th birthday.

Your portrait issue was very interesting, especially the Natural Light and Neighbourhood Watch articles, though I would certainly be out of my depth considering using models, who are, after all, de nitely not ‘amateurs’.

In any case, what would I do with the results? I don’t think my wife would like the prints on our walls, however modest the treatment! My ‘portraits’ are family and friends and my main problems are controlling the background and bringing out the best in the sitters to portray them in the uncontrolled home environment. Help with this aspect would be appreciated. Simon Caswell

Many hobbyists hire professional and semi-pro models for creative fashion, beauty and portraiture shoots but the majority of models de nitely are amateurs, Simon, just like most photographers. There are tens of thousands of men and women on websites like Model Mayhem, Purple Port and Modelfolio looking for photographers to collaborate with. But in a wider sense even your family and friends are effectively ‘models’ when you ask them to pose for you, and the advice we give on communicating, lighting, posing and photographing them applies to all, whether your subject is Kate Moss or your mum.