My name is Yolanda Kingdon and I’m a professional beauty & wedding photographer, based in Barry, South Wales. I first picked up a camera when I was seventeen, studying psychology & English literature in college. I used to attend an additional make-up class and I would wear looks I had created to the lessons. The tutors were always inspired by these looks and said I had a natural creative talent. I fell into photography purely by accident after a form tutor suggested I take some photographs of my friends as a side project.

I began regularly asking friends if I could photograph them and I started uploading these images to social media platforms such as Myspace, Model Mayhem and Deviantart. I soon realised that my images were being appreciated and I began attracting clients and shooting makeover sessions for women. I loved the whole process – creating looks, experimenting with lighting techniques, and ultimately boosting my clients’ confidences.

Fast forward two years and my family finally realised I could make a living from photography! I am completely self-taught; when I started, there was very little information available online – certainly not on the style of photoshoots I wanted to achieve, and this has helped me develop my own style.

I am now celebrating eighteen years as a professional photographer, and I’m still as passionate about it as I was when I began my journey. I truly believe that photography has made me the woman I am today, and every time I pick up a camera I feel alive.

The Photoshoot Process

I always begin with an idea in mind and take the inspiration from there. It can come from music, fashion – or even the model themselves. It’s important to me that everyone involved in the shoot is comfortable. Creating a relaxing atmosphere for the whole team makes such a difference to the end result. If the subject isn’t comfortable, it can be visible in the eyes and posture. Ultimately, I want the team to leave on a high, excited to see the final results.

Lenses

My choice of lens very much depends on the type of shot I’m going for. If I want to create a close crop for a beauty look, I’ll reach for my FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II. I love this lens as it helps give space between the subject and myself which can help them relax because I’m not too close. I personally don’t use a tripod – and I don’t need to as the stabilisation on this lens is fantastic and captures super sharp images each time. It’s a very lightweight lens and doesn’t exhaust my arms, even when I am shooting a six-hour beauty/portrait session, or even a long wedding day. This lens offers the best versatility for beauty as it helps achieve wonderful compositions for the angles I want to shoot. I can get in super close, or I can go wider for portraits.

For close-up eye and lip shots, the FE 90mm f/2.8 G Macro is hard to beat, and the detail it can resolve is insane. Once you have captured the photo and it comes though on the monitor, the microscopic details of the pores on the skin, veins on the eyes and eyelashes are wonderful. Most photographers want to blur out backgrounds and skin texture and keep just the eyes in focus. But for me, I want to see as much detail as I possibly can, so I stop down to f/16 or f/22. I would recommend the 90mm Macro for anyone serious about beauty shots.

When I want to get a little more experimental, my go-to lens for both weddings and beauty portraits has to be my FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II. The focal range gives me the ability to get wonderful portraits without any distortion, and I’m also able to quickly switch to wideangle, to create something unusual for beauty. It’s also a great choice for weddings too, as it’ll happily capture group shots, speeches and interiors. It’s easily my most-used lens and its light weight means I can shoot all day without arm ache.

The pairing of my Alpha 1 and Sony lenses gives me the image quality I need for my work. At the end of the day, the gear I use are the tools to make my job as easy as possible; the super-sharp lenses and incredible Eye AF means I don’t miss a shot.