Free photo shoot with Terry Bracken

It’s not surprising that Terry Bracken, who for many years was an enthusiastic amateur photographer, at some point turned his hobby into a more professional activity. After all, he is married to an established fashion stylist and makeup artist – the creative synergies are not hard to come by in this case.

Initially an amateur photographer taking family and landscape pictures before the advent of digital age of photography, he has now moved more towards fashion photography, often collaborating with his wife and stylist Agnieszka Galat-Bracken.

Based in Wakefield (Leeds), Terry has set up a home-based studio for his photography work. While several standard paper backgrounds are available, the studio can be also configured for a more personal and amicable look – the wooden floor adding character to the photos, creating the feel of a great location shoot rather than standard studio work. Knowing his house and studio in minuscule detail, Terry has tried out many different lighting configurations and knows exactly how to set the scene to bring out the best in the model.

(c) Terry Bracken

(c) Terry Bracken

(c) Terry Bracken

Having worked with experienced and new models both, Terry’s advice to models just starting out is to be relaxed, and to gain as much experience as possible with many different photographers with different style of work.

“Usually, with new models,” Terry says “they tend to be more tense in the first part of the shoot. But after the first set, people tend to relax a bit more – and this is where I start to get some great images of the model. The quicker you can get past this initial tension, the better it is for everyone!”

Terry is always considering new ideas for photo shoots – with creative input from his wife Agnieszka. She started her career with ELLE magazine in Poland and has now been working as a fashion stylist and makeup artist on freelance basis for the last 6 years. She has worked with several celebrity clients, including working for Soapstar Superstars. Her portfolio can be viewed here at Stylingatelier.com.

Agnieszka also runs a boutique called ‘StylingAtelier.com’ in Leeds, specialising in vintage clothing, shoes, handbags, and other accessories. The couple often works together to produce photos where they mix the creative styling of Agnieszka with the photographic skill of Terry.

Terry Bracken will do a casual / fashion / portrait shoot with two WannabeStar members on TFP basis in his studio in Wakefield, Leeds. He is happy to work with new and experienced models both – additionally, everebody's schedules permitting (Terry's, Agnieszka's and the competition winners') Agnieszka will provide styling and makeup for the shoot. The winning models will be encouraged to contribute some of their ideas so as to make the shoot as collaborative as possible.

You can view more of Terry’s work here and samples of Agnieszka’s styling portfolio here.