Top Glamour Photographers Perth - Hannah Laurent
Hannah’s love for glamour and portrait photography has been in her blood since a young age and her passion for the arts comes through with her incredible art-inspired images.
We had a moment with Hannah to ask her a few questions about how she ended up photographing glamour portraits as a profession. Questions below…
Hannah Laurent - Zest Photographer
1. When did you first become interested in photography and glamour photography?
The moment I became invested in photography I was around the age of 12. My godmother was a photographer at the time and saw I had a passion for it.
I watched her as much as I could and it wasn’t long before my mother gave me her second-hand 35mm camera so I could start planning my own shoots. From there, my obsession began, and after some time my godmother actually changed my life when she gave me all of her camera gear one day. She told me that she’d decided to quit, and that I had a special eye for taking photos that she didn’t.
At that moment I didn’t realise, but I’d decided then that I’d be doing this forever.
2. What do you love about photographing a woman?
Women have always been romanticized throughout history, in books, art and film.
I started admiring women in all their forms through renaissance paintings, I just thought they were beautiful and flawless even though today their figure is not what an ideal women’s figure is considered to be. They were even better, because they were real women.
I’ve always admired the beauty in that and my love for capturing the body I found really came to life through photographing dancers. Photographing dancers changed the way I saw my subjects, it gave me so much freedom to let women move through poses their own natural way.
3. Where do you get your inspiration and ideas from?
I get a lot of my inspiration from the people around me, my friends inspire me to create a lot of my own work.
Being inspired by other photographers always motivates me to learn new skills and develop my style of photography.
Photos can quite literally take my breath away sometimes and when that happens I become obsessed with planning shoots so I can continue to play and develop.
4. What do you do during a shoot to help women feel comfortable and help with nerves?
I am the kind of person that is very aware of the energies in a room and people's emotions when around me.
Because of this, I’m always working hard to make my clients feel comfortable. I am always making fun of myself, I’m a bit of a fool which takes some of the focus away from themselves and my shoots are usually filled with a lot of laughter.
5. What else are you passionate about and enjoy spending your time doing?
Really most of my time is spend in photography land, when I'm not working as a photographer, I’m either planning my own shoots or shooting for friends, reading about photography, watching videos to learn new techniques, doing short courses, scrolling the web for new equipment.
There is just so much about photography that excites me!
But honestly when I do take my photographer hat off, you’ll usually find me at the beach, sitting in a park somewhere listening to music, playing roller hockey or I’ll be in the gym. My ideal relaxing afternoon in summer would be beach until sunset with a beer and good music, and in winter it’d be sitting on my couch with a glass of red, a bag of microwave popcorn watching ‘friends’ or cartoons.
6. What are your favourite poses to use in a glamour shoot?
I think that I have a new favourite pose for each woman that I’m photographing.
I think there is a moment in every shoot where I find that angle or shape that my client just looks perfect. I was always more in touch with natural movement over holding poses.
So now I use both.
7. What would your number one tip be for a woman who is preparing for her glamour shoot?
To really have a think about what will mean the most to you when you’re looking at yourself through these photos, tomorrow, months from now, years from now.
If you could create a feeling that would make you feel good, make you feel happy and proud to be yourself forever, what would that look like to you?
To capture your beauty is one side of what makes an experience like this so special but to give the photos a deep connection to your feelings through your story is the other.
8. What props/ accessories and other pieces can be good to bring along for a glamour shoot?
Anything you bring that has a uniqueness to you and your personality or a symbolic item that stands for something that you want to be seen will add tremendous value to your photos.
Whether it’s your favourite dress, your tarot cards, your cowboy boots or wings to symbolic your growth, vampire teeth to show your love of fantasy. There is not right or wrong, make it all about you.
9. How do you keep things creative and unique in each shoot you do?
I think connecting with the individual I’m photographing is where the creativity for me comes from.
Connection is something that’s always been important to me with the people I’m photographing. It helps me focus on bringing out their uniqueness because I’m confident that I know what that is when there is a certain level of connection.
10. What would you say to someone who feels unsure or not ready to have their own photography experience?
I know that you’re nervous, but I know that experiencing a glamour photo shoot is one of the most empowering and overcoming things you can do for yourself as a woman.
It’s so important for woman to see their own beauty as unique and different as it is. To trust someone to capture the side of you - you want to see - that you maybe don’t know exists.
Every woman deserves to feel beautiful, confident and sexy. To feel good in their own skin no matter the shape, age or size. It’s the only body you’ve got and it deserves love as does your mind. And what an amazing way to feed both.
“I know that you’re nervous, but I know that experiencing a glamour photo shoot is one of the most empowering and overcoming things you can do for yourself as a woman.”
If you are interested in booking a Zest Photography family, couple, modern glamour, boudoir or nude portrait photography experience, call 0862453150 or email us at info@zestphotography.com.au.