Ishmael cut a striking figure, moving with a powerful, tiger-like lope through the heat of a London’s recent flirtation with summer weather.

Having just finished work for the day, he agreed to take a second to shoot a portrait against the shadowy wall of a Soho archway.

Working at Selfridges’ fragrance department, this is one of the more hectic times of year for him – with London’s influx of Saudi Arabian visitors keeping him almost as busy as Christmas shoppers will some five months from now.

The light comes from a single reflector Ishmael is holding just below shot, with a 1/64 pop of a Canon 600EX-RT (fired by RT from a ST-E3-RT) through a 43″ white shoot through umbrella just to the right of shot – offering a little fill.

This is portrait #89 of my 100 Strangers Project – check out the group page and get involved.

I get some questions in Flickr mail about how I process my portraits. If you’re interested, please do whizz over to my photography blog for an overview of the tools and approaches I use. Hopefully of use and/or interest!