The Hague Portrait, Family, Wedding, Fashion, and Lifestlye photographer Al Borrelli
Ok, no, not really. I don’t hate her. I quite like her in fact. It’s the English translation of her first single from her newly released self-titled debut album. (Get the album HERE!) And I was lucky enough to be given the chance (Thanks Javo @ EMI!) to spend some time walking around, chatting and taking photos of this up-and-coming Mexican singer songwriter. View full post »
Every 30st of April, it’s Queen’s Day here in The Netherlands.
Every night before that it’s what I like to call “Get obliterated drunk on the streets of Den Haag and get crazy while various stages crank out concerts while wearing outrageous amounts of orange clothing” night.
Sadly, I found last night to not nearly be as wild, drunken, or as orange as I’d hoped!
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This is a GREAT set of photos dude. Damn. Really, really good. And I think you could sell some of these as stock if you wanted, I can see a few of them being used in a variety of ways.
Two compliments in a row.. you either miss me or I deserve it! 
Thanks pal!
This awesome post (more like gathering of suggestions!) is going to help all you parents (often stay at home ones) be better photographers with the limited kit and time at your disposal. This is NOT about achieving professional results, but of making the most out of simple techniques and basic kit.
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My mother passed away on July 3, 2011. Suddenly. No warning.
No words can really express everything I and my family have gone through because of this shock. Thankfully there are photos. Tons and tons of really good photos taken of my mother over the years.
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I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts are with you and your family. Loved the photos of your mother. She appears to have been a vibrant, fun loving, beautiful woman with a passion for life.
I’m so sorry to hear about your mom, Al 
I was way on holiday and didn’t see your messages on Facebook. You’re lucky that you have so many great photos of her! Your dad really did have an amazing eye. I love the one of her cleaning your face 
It’s just so… MOM.
Thanks guys!
So very sorry to hear of your loss. Even though I knew the end was coming for both my parents, it wasn’t easy…but I did get the chance to let them know how much I loved them.
Special lives bring precious memories, and those memories will live forever.
Al, siento mucho lo de tu madre. Que lindo testimonio a tu amor y a su belleza, misma que ilumina, como estas fotos muestran su alrededor. Gracias por compartir esto. En solidaridad. Deborah
I’d almost given up on this part of this series.. so much so I’ve not written anything in a while because felt like I would have been avoiding the thing I’ve been promising to do for so long.
I’ve been trying to find a way to explain how it is that I feel I am able to capture personality in my images…but then I realized I was simply assuming you, the viewer, actually saw personality in my images, so I started to doubt whether or not I was actually doing it! View full post »
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[...] captures of her personality. It’s a perfect example of why I placed so much emphasis on Personality in Part 3 of my Portrait Theory posts. Very few of you who read this knew her, but I bet all of you can get [...]
My goal in life is now to get invited to PhootCamp.
It’s an invitation only gathering of incredibly talented young hip photographers who spend a week feeding off each others creativity and eating lots of sugar I believe. All I need now is to become creative, get young, develop some hip-ness, and learn to take kick-ass images that are uniquely mine, and I’m golden.
See you phooters in 2025!
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Dude, you are more creative, young and hip than you give yourself credit for!
Thanks Tammy, but you have to say that, you know me!
Well, if I get in PhootCamp before 2025, I guess you were right!
I love Mexico City. Don’t necessarily want to live there, but I looove visiting.
So when the chance came up to photograph a wedding IN the city, you just know I jumped at the chance.
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Yeah yeah, I’ve been waaay out of touch as life and too many weddings have gotten in the way of.. well… pretty much everything!
I’m still working on finishing up Pt.3 of my “Portrait Theory”.. so hopefully that’ll be up soon.
The two wedding shoots I did in September (yeah, I’m very behind my updates) were humbling experiences. Why you ask? As anyone who knows me will attest, I’m not a very emotional guy, nor prone to any “aaaw cute” moments and typically hate the cheese factor in any photos… but I have to admit Fiona and Kevin’s wedding hit me on a level I don’t normally feel while shooting a job.
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Great pics Al
I wanted to ask you:
- What equipment did you use in the wedding?
- What software did you use for the videos?
I gotta shoot a wedding of two friends of mine in July and I am freaking out!
Tips are welcome!
Sending you an email now Mirko!
Great set Al! Can’t deny the connection there! I dig the music too.
Thanks Luke.. about to upload a wedding I just did in Mexico city!
Part II of my musings on what my theory and approach to portraits is. This segment is about “Simplicity”
Simplicity
Keep It Simple Stupid – KISS.. something I try to live by in general…and also something I try to apply to my portrait work. I love simple, yet powerful photographs, and I think that translates particularly well to portraits. View full post »
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[...] Karina and Javo. You may remember them from a previous photo I showed you in my post on Portrait Theory Pt. II (yes yes Pt III is coming, in fact, this job helped me nail some new thoughts on the issue). [...]
I’ve recently been asked “how do you come up with these ideas” in reference to my Portrait Montage series (you can buy the book by the way).
That led to a bigger discussion on how I personally view, prepare for, think about, and shoot portraits in general and I thought I’d share my views with you… you know, in case you actually care!
Who knows, maybe it’ll give you that push you need to get unstuck from whatever boring crap you may be photographing now (we all get stuck sometimes).
In the end it comes down to three concepts in my approach: confidence, simplicity and personality.
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Mariana need not worry about how she looks in photos.
Thanks for the post Al. This is something I really struggle with, being almost a severe introvert and all. I am slowly getting over it, but it can be tough. It helps to think of all the great shots I have missed though.
Yeah.. as you’ve been doing lately with your portraits, you just need to get out there and do it and you’ll see that as you get better with them, you’ll be more confident in general. We’ve already noticed (via DPS) that you took on some comments and improved on your 2nd shoot. My confidence only came much later after I’d done enough shoots to know that with at least a few things I could rely on getting some decent shots. It’ll come mate, don’t you worry. At some point you’ll have a small arsenal of shots/techniques that you know you’ll be able to rely on to always get decent shots.
[...] BlogAl who?Contact Cufon.now(); Portrait theory (pt.II – Simplicity) Cufon.refresh(); September 6, [...]
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Addiction Treatment - Hauntingly powerful voice. Love the montage and the bright colourful shots more so.
Nice work Big Fuzzy.
Al - I’m assuming that’s you G-man?
Thanks pal! Haunting… good word for one of her vocal qualities! I should have used that! 
Marcus Richardson - Great photos! I especially love the back-lit shot. Very nice article too! Anyone reading it might think you actually know what you’re doing haha
Al - Hahaha Marcus, we wouldn’t want that now would we?! Thanks pal!