Lighting secrets of the pros: Tianna J Williams

Tianna swapped a career as a midwife to pursue her dream of becoming a pro photographer and has since won numerous awards for her portraits

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Back in 2017 Tianna J Williams left behind the responsibility of bringing new life into the world for the challenge of the self-employed life of a photographer. Starting out with nothing more than a passion for photography, her photographic journey has taken her from shooting in her living room to creating beautiful portraits in her spacious studio in one of the trendiest areas in Birmingham.

Initially dabbling in different genres, it was a masterclass she took in 2018 that reminded her of her underlying passion for women and convinced Tianna to use her experience as a midwife to leverage her business as a maternity session specialist.

Tianna has built a multi-award-winning practice specialising in maternity photography, empowering her clients through beautiful portraits that capture their journey from pregnancy through to motherhood. Many of her clients return once the baby has arrived, to carry on the traditions of memory-making.

Now a Nikon Creator, Tianna’s work is also increasingly encompassing a broader portfolio of portraiture beyond the maternity sphere.

In her downtime, Tianna spends a lot of time exploring creative lighting and styling techniques that she can use on her clients. In December she embarked on a collaborative project with a friend and fellow photographer Simon Lewis, armed with a mood-board, an incredible model, backdrops and the intention to create something great. This is one of Tianna’s images from that shoot, and below she explains how it was made. Over the page Tianna shares the lighting set-ups behind several of her other images.