Masterclass: Headshots & Portrait Photography — Samy's Camera, Los Angeles, 12 September 2026

On Saturday 12 September I am teaching a headshot and portrait masterclass at Samy's Camera on Fairfax Avenue, in the fourth-floor classroom. It runs from midday until five, professional models are provided throughout, and the class is deliberately small.

Five hours is not long. So the day is structured tightly, and almost all of it is spent shooting.

The shape of the afternoon

We begin with the fundamentals of headshot and portrait work, then build through two opposing approaches to studio lighting in a single sitting, which is the most direct way I know to teach what light actually does.

• 12.00pm — Introduction to headshot and portrait photography

• 12.30pm — High key studio lighting

• 1.00pm — Directing the model

• 1.30pm — Hands-on practice

• 2.00pm — Lunch (Not provided)

• 2.30pm — Low key studio lighting

• 3.00pm — Advanced lighting technique

• 3.30pm — Practical session

• 4.30pm — Review of the day's work

• 5.00pm — Close

Putting high key and low key side by side within a few hours is the point of the structure. High key is where most commercial headshot work sits: clean, even, legible, unthreatening. Low key is where portraiture lives. Photographing the same face both ways in one afternoon makes the difference impossible to unsee, and it tends to change how people light everything afterwards.

What I teach, and why

My own work is built on a single, low classical light. That is not an affectation. It is the light of Holbein and Titian, of Caravaggio and Rembrandt, of Lawrence — painters who had no flash, no modifiers and no second source, and who therefore had to think very carefully about the one they had. Strip a portrait back to one light and everything that matters becomes visible: where the shadow falls across the cheek, how the eye catches, whether a sitter reads as composed or merely still.

We also spend real time on direction. Most portraits fail not because the lighting is wrong but because nothing is happening in front of the camera. I will show you how I give a sitter something specific to do, and why I photograph the suppressed version of a feeling rather than the performed one.

Who it is for

Photographers at any level, from those who have recently bought their first studio light to working professionals. The room is kept small so that everyone gets meaningful time under each setup and personal attention while shooting. You will leave with portfolio-ready portraits of your own and a clear method for producing more.

About me

I am a British portrait photographer, based between Los Angeles, London and New York. My portraits are held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, and in the Royal Collection, and I have won Portrait of Britain four times, in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Over the past two decades I have photographed Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Dame Judi Dench, William Shatner, Ian McShane, Jared Harris and Natalie Dormer, alongside British prime ministers including Tony Blair and Theresa May, HRH The Duke of Kent, and figures in finance such as Ray Dalio. My two-year project Soldiery, documenting the British Army of the twenty-first century, was exhibited at the National Army Museum and described by the BBC as the changing face of the British Army.

What I teach at Samy's is what I use in the studio. There is no separate, simplified version for workshops.

Details

Date: Saturday 12 September 2026 Time: 12.00pm – 5.00pm Venue: Fourth-floor classroom, Samy's Camera, Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles Price: $350.00 per person Booking: through Samy's Photo School on Eventbrite Bring: your camera and a lens — an 85mm or 50mm is ideal. All lighting and models are provided.

Places are limited. Registration is subject to Samy's Photo School terms and conditions; refunds must be requested in writing at least thirty days before the event, and no refunds or credits are issued inside thirty days.