Originally from Buenos Aires, Anna is enjoying living in London (apart from the food… which is a largerly fair point). She was out and about with her boyfriend (from Portugal – and I am so sorry, but my iPhone’s spellcheck “corrected” his name when I took my notes, and I can no longer remember the original!).

They were out looking for somewhere to dance – no, not tango, they emphasised on a point of clarification. One condition of my taking her portrait was that I offered advice in the matter of where they might go. It’s very possible that I am the worst equipped person in London to comment on dance venues, yet I noted at least that they were in the right part of town. We were, in fact, shooting outside a mothballed disco – the silver frontage covered in a dense pattern of galloping horses, just about evident over Anna’s shoulder.

The second condition was that I not send her a copy of the picture. Of course, I passed her a card in case she changed her mind, and respect the decision. Nonetheless, it always surprises me how many wonderfully photogenic people there are in the world, that can’t abide themselves in photographs.

Thank you Anna for stopping, and sorry that I wasn’t much help in advising on a decent option for dancing – hopefully the two of you found something suitable without too much further delay. I really appreciate your time, and for taking part when I know portraits aren’t really your thing! Hopefully comments below encourage you on this front – you were wonderfully natural in front of the camera, and it was a pleasure to chat for a few minutes in taking this picture.

Info for Strobist;

Single Canon 600EX-RT fired by RT from ST-E3-RT, camera right 30* up and side at 1/128 power, with a clip on diffuser in a 43″ white shoot through umbrella. Anna is holding a small reflector below the frame, and her chap has a larger one to camera left, just out of shot. The silver background is lit by ambient spill from brake lights and neon.

This is portrait #85 of my 100 Strangers Project – check out the group page and get involved.