Portraits With an Edge

Por Jenn Gidman
Images by Michelle Nechetsky

Michelle Nechetsky uses the Tamron SP 35mm F/1.4 prime lens to create realistic but vibrant family memories.

Michelle Nechetsky first caught the photography bug in middle school from her mom, who dabbled in the craft as a hobby. Then came high school courses on shooting manual and learning how to use a darkroom, followed by a two-year program at Pennsylvania’s Antonelli Institute, where Michelle took an even deeper dive into various other aspects of photography. After college graduation, wedding and portrait work followed.

In March 2021, Michelle launched Lennlo Studios, a photography business that has her photographing engagements and weddings, and then all of the special moments that emerge out of that special day, including maternity and newborn images, christenings, holidays, senior and graduation images, and other family photos. “My portraits tend toward true-to-color, with a little bit of pop,” she says. “I want to make sure the skin tones in my photos match what my clients’ skin tones really look like, while keeping the images vibrant and colorful. I’ve had clients reach out to me specifically because I’m not afraid to use color. I’d label my style ‘realistic, with a bit of an edge.’”

35mm, F/1.8, 1/200 sec., ISO 200

35mm, F/2, 1/250 sec., ISO 320

Shooting in natural light is Michelle’s preference, especially in the warm golden light around sunset. “I do have a couple of strobes and softboxes that I mainly use for my wedding work, but the majority of my portraiture involves natural light,” she says. “I tend to stay away from midday sessions, because not only is the lighting bad, but the color temperature also changes throughout the day. That makes it tough to edit my images the way I want to. Golden hour is my happy place, or the blue hour just after sunset.”

35mm, F/1.6, 1/4000 sec., ISO 160

Michelle captures all of these memorable moments with her Tamron SP 35mm F/1.4 Di USD prime lens. “Because I tend to linger in that low-light arena, the F/1.4 maximum aperture on that lens is clutch,” she says. “I purchased the 35mm a year ago and now it rarely comes off my camera when I’m creating portraiture. There’s something special about a prime lens in general, and I love the sharpness and image quality of this one in particular. I recommend the Tamron 35mm to everyone.”

35mm, F/1.6, 1/8000 sec., ISO 160

After determining what time of day she’s going to shoot, Michelle chooses the best setting for her client. “I’ll usually ask them what vibe they’re going for—whether they want a rural or urban feel, if they want water in the background, things like that,” she says. “For whatever reason, many customers seem to be gravitating toward big open fields at the moment. Another way we can narrow down where to shoot is by the client seeing some of my images and telling me which ones they love. We can select the location, either the same one or somewhere similar, based on those preferences.”

35mm, F/1.4, 1/3200 sec., ISO 320

Michelle also recently formed a group of local photographers that meet once a month to socialize, take pictures together, and bounce ideas off each other. “Photography can be such a cutthroat, competitive arena, and I’m a big believer in community over competition,” she says. “That’s why I started this group of friendly faces, and it’s where I came up with one of more unusual ideas of taking a photo of one of my clients in a shopping cart. I finally got to execute it for the picture you see here, which was for a style shoot. I spray-painted the cart myself.”

Keeping the interactions with her subjects relaxed, organic, and fluid is what helps Michelle capture the look she’s after. “I first try to get a feel for a client’s personality,” she says. “I pride myself on being a people person, and most of my clients tell me they feel very comfortable with me. Once they get to know me and let their guard down, they’re much more at ease in front of my camera. I don’t usually have to do much more than ask them to tilt their head a bit or slightly turn their body in a certain direction.”

35mm, F/1.6, 1/1250 sec., ISO 500

Family photos hold a special place in Michelle’s heart. “I especially love motherhood photos,” she says. “I recently downloaded an app that’s all about unscripted posing, and it’s been giving me a lot of prompts to help make these types of photos more natural-looking. I’ll use instructions like, ‘Just hold your baby and play with his hair or tickle his cheek.’ For older kids, I’ll give them a funny prop or say something amusing to them like, ‘Doesn’t Mommy have smelly feet?’ The poses and expressions I get out of that are terrific.”

35mm, F/2.2, 1/500 sec., ISO 320

Lately, Michelle has also been focusing on capturing detail shots to mix things up. “I’ll zoom in on a subject’s hair blowing in the breeze, or on a baby’s hands playing with his mom’s dress or necklace,” she says. “I’ve been trying to think outside of the box, and as it turns out, those have resulted in some of my favorite images.”

35mm, F/1.8, 1/3200 sec., ISO 400

To see more of Michelle Nechetsky’s work, check out her Instagram.