Karl J. Noakes turned me onto Greg Williams, I think when he saw me shooting black and white candids of people at car shows. I love what Williams does, and in my ongoing effort to become a better photographer I figured I would take a stab at the sort of “authentic” work he does.

That, of course, required a subject, and so I went to the local “Trade for Portfolio” group and found a few models. The first one up, shared here, is Shelby (@respectfullyshelby on Instagram) who offered up that she had a connection at Portland’s Ritz Carlton and that we could shoot there.

How fun!

I shot three basic sets of photos. The first, more traditional “model” shots …

The second group was the “homage to Greg Williams” set — more candid shots where Shelby and her friend were just telling me stories and interacting more or less normally.

Here is my favorite of the candid shots I got. This was actually before we really started shooting, taken outside of the hotel.

The third group may actually just be part of the first group, more traditional shots that you may see in publication. I grouped these because we were playing with the light at the end of the day and so they ended up a little more “artsy-fartsy” perhaps than the first group.

You can follow Shelby on Instagram at @respectfullyshelby