Kulachet Cheosakul (@kulachetcheosakul), also known as ILovetogo, is a portrait photographer based in Thailand, whose passion for capturing real feelings and emotions are a hallmark of his photography. His eye for detail and ability to incorporate minute features into his compositions are a trademark of his storytelling. 

His Creative Portrait project is no exception to that as he wanted to capture the feeling of old Bangkok. "The period of Old Bangkok was when foreign cultures influenced every part of the city, including architecture." We connected with Kulachet to find out how he was able to stir emotions and use ambience to restore old Bangkok to its heyday, temporarily at least. 

Creating A Vintage Feeling 

The photoshoot location was an old building that had been renovated into a cafe. "The advantages of this location was its classic architecture that had a bit of a luxurious and exotic feel to it. This made it a fitting location for my project. The place did have some drawbacks in which I couldn't control the natural lighting since it was a public place. It was also raining during the shooting phase, so I had to do a lot of editing to make the image look exactly as I had planned out," he said. 

There were no props involved as Kulachet wanted the emotions of the model and the ambience of the location to be the focus. "Portraying the model's feelings and the location, to me, are the most important features in portrait photography. Having the right equipment allows me to capture the model's feelings precisely without spending too much time setting up," he said. 

To incorporate shades that would colour his reimagining of old Bangkok, Kulachet was able to take advantage of the Alpha 7 IV's Creative Looks feature to fine-tune the colour settings. "The main colours I wanted for the images are black, brown and turquoise. To create that, I needed to control the tone of the background and costume. Using the FL feature allowed me to add some turquoise in the shadow while giving the images a 'film-style' look".

Working with models 

Throughout his career, Kulachet understood that creating visually stunning portraits is more than just getting the right equipment and style. An important factor is to ensure that both the photographer and the model are in sync. "For me, creating portraits is about making the model feel confident in my abilities to capture her in a positive light. Moreover, I need to empathise with her and make sure I don't drag the photography session for hours until she feels too tired to continue," he said. 

One of the aspects both Kulachet and the model go through before the shooting is the choice of wardrobe. "The wardrobe is key to having a successful photoshoot as it makes the storytelling more believable to the viewer. Before shooting, the model and I will discuss the arrangements of the photoshoot together, including the main concept, the locations, and the final image. Then, I will let her choose what she would like to wear so that she feels comfortable, confident, and motivated during the shoot. For this project, both of us agreed that wearing black would enhance the classy and luxurious visual style that we were going for," he said.

For Kulachet, capturing portraits is a people-oriented art form that connects the photographer to both the subject and the viewer. "My advice to those looking to pursue portrait photography is to work together with your subjects in a fun and light-hearted manner. Always address your subjects by name when communicating with them and praise them for a job well done. This way, you will be able to create genuine images that feel personal to the viewer," he said.