James Houghton

I have been photographing various subjects for years. Starting with wildlife, I moved on to live music and then portraits. 

Shooting portraits is always something I have enjoyed and it is something that I am hoping to do more of going forward. In 2023 I am switching things up to shoot more on film and also hope to start making videos at the same time… a long awaited personal project.

I have no specific preference for people to work with except people who are creatively engaged in the process. I like to shoot slowly and take my time between shots. I’m not interested rattling off a thousand shots in rapid bursts, just hoping that one comes out right. I’d rather take ten shots that matter than a thousand just for the sake of it.  What matters to me most in a shoot is to come away having had fun and having made a connection with someone while hopefully creating something special together. 

Some elements that I tend to prefer in a shoot are natural light, minimal/subtle makeup unless used creatively. I like shooting outdoors but I shoot indoors just fine too. I’m not a big user of flash but I am looking to experiment with it a little more going forward. I like interesting outfits, colours, backgrounds. I like to shoot headshots with shadows in the background. In the future I hope to experiment with different vintage lenses and cameras and to experiment with different photographic concepts. 

I live just west of London, near Heathrow. Places I can get to easily are pretty much all of London, Reading, Maidenhead, Uxbridge, and various places out west. I travel around the country a bit and will often go to Scotland. I tend to go to Glasgow and Edinburgh at least once or twice a year. I will often stop off at places along the way, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, York… So don’t feel shy about reaching out if London is too far out. If you like the look of my work and want to reach out then drop me a line and there is a chance that our paths might cross at some point.