Creative and Artistic Portraits - Dave Bentley Photography

When I was originally approached about writing an article for Basic Invite's blog, I all of sudden started getting scatter-brained trying to think of what I wanted to write about.  I was given the idea to write about my favorite shoot, but that's too hard to narrow down. Ultimately I wanted to share some insight into my creativity, and what's it like to shoot with Dave Bentley Photography.

First off, a little background on me. I'm originally from a small town in Southwest VA, and moved to the Northern VA / Washington DC metro area after college. I now reside in Tempe, Arizona with my girlfriend, our dog, and cat.  It was back in Arlington, VA that I started taking a more serious approach to a lifelong hobby. I started working with local models and fine-tuning my portrait work. It took awhile, but eventually I started Dave Bentley Photography.

I instantly found out that shooting people vs. landscapes and objects was wayyyyy different.  There were many more details to pay attention to, and so many changing variables. I did hours of research online, reading blogs, watching videos, and seeing "how the pros did it".  I tried to mimic a lot of what I saw, and when I became more comfortable with the basics, I started adding my own creativity.

I only have a couple of rules during photoshoots, and one of them is to have fun. Photography should be fun.  I don't want someone to walk away from a session and have a negative feeling, or feel like it was a waste of time. I try to keep my sessions energetic, upbeat, and humorous. This feeds into the styles of shoots that I like to do.

One of the first creative shoots I saw and always loved was avant garde and bold makeup. This was always near the top of my list to create.  There was something about the bold, confident, unique look of the model with the skills of a makeup artist that intrigued me.

Allison Rose - @allison_rose_model

I've shot several candy/sweets themed shoots.  I'm sure we've all had our moments of weakness where we give in to our sweet-tooth.

One of my favorites was a maternity shoot that focused on the cravings and mixtures that the mother to be experienced.

These are just a few of the examples of how I like to mix it up, and have fun on my shoots.  You can see more of my work, from serious, to fun, to even a darker side on my website, www.davebentleyphotography.com. Follow me on Instagram: @davebentleyphotos.

If you're ever in the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe area and want to shoot with Dave Bentley Photography, shoot me a message and let's get creative!