Nhi, Drink and Click Portrait – Austin, Texas

Given a choice, I like candids instead of highly stylized model poses. Though this one is posed, Nhi looks nice and natural. I asked her to first look at her smartphone and then asked her to look up at me, unexpectedly, catching her with this expression. I’ve shot several of these portrait with smartphone photos. Given how important these devices have become, I think they represent images of our time.

The other benefit of smartphone lit photos are the extra light in these dark places, critically lighting the face. Sometimes, I even get bonus catch-lights in the eyes. I suppose it’s a sub-specialty of my Drink and Click portrait series. I’m sure I’ll feature more of these in the future.

I made his portrait in late February at Stay Gold. Nhi is more than a model, she is also a clothing designer, making vintage designs. That night, several of the models wore her creations, some of who I’ll feature in future posts.