Apologies for the number of images of me in this post. Here’s the explanation:

For the last four years I’ve been using the same old headshot for my author publicity and social media. It was taken by my husband and it took ages to get something that was just about acceptable in terms of lighting and my facial expression. Since then I may have grown the odd wrinkle or two, but I’ve delayed getting an updated image because of the aggro involved. However, I came across Najm Clayton, a local photographer with very reasonable charges, so I bit the bullet and asked him to take some photos.

I wasn’t looking forward to the experience. On top of deciding what to wear (plus which additional tops to take with me for a quick change into a ‘different’ look), I was worried about my abilities with makeup which I rarely use but which felt necessary on this occasion and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to produce the ‘correct’ facial expressions on demand.

I needn’t have worried. Najm, immediately put me at ease with small talk and background music. The studio location also broke the ice. It was on the first floor of the now closed Marks and Spencer store in Sutton Coldfield. The whole building has become a centre for creatives, which made it feel an appropriate place for an author! The old managers’ offices and staffroom have become artists’ workshops, a band also uses the first floor studio for gigs and the ground floor will soon open as an art gallery.

Najm did test shots to check the lighting and then he guided me through turning my head, adjusting the angle of my hips, raising my chin slightly but too much and going for a neutral expression but not too passport-like. He spotted any closed eyes immediately and took another shot. Partway through he took a couple of steps up a ladder to get a downward camera angle, after which he posed my arms to give some shots a completely different look. I was sent off to swap my top in the abandoned M&S changing rooms, still complete with mirrors, and then we repeated the whole scenario. And then again with my third blouse.

Amazingly the whole thing took only thirty minutes and it gave me a taste of what it must feel like for models on a fashion shoot. Half an hour was doable but a whole day of being posed, getting changed, posed again ad infinitum must be extremely tiring!

Given the subject matter that Najm had to work with – I think he did a brilliant job!

Find out more about Najm Clayton via his website.