Romanian Rumblings

Irina turns up the attitude

Editorial studio portrait of a model in a beaded mesh veil and sheer black top, hands lifting the veil, dark background.

Shoot overview

This one came together at short notice. I’d been chatting with Irina (she models as Arrina.Roawr) through the year, but dates never quite aligned. Then a rare gap appeared: she had a booking near me, I was due to fly to France early the next morning, and the studio was only about 20 minutes away — so we did what photographers do and made it happen.

The result was a rapid-fire session in an industrial estate in Brighouse, hosted by Ian at Mainshoot Photography — a new space for me, and one that isn’t usually available during the day.

Close-up portrait through a beaded mesh veil, red lipstick, intense eye contact, dark studio background.

The intent: attitude first, variety second

The guiding idea for this set was “attitude carries the frame”. With limited time, you don’t overcomplicate. You pick a strong visual starting point, keep the lighting consistent, and let expression, gesture and styling do the heavy lifting.

We moved fast — fast enough that we knocked out eight distinct looks in a little over 90 minutes of actual shooting — and Irina matched the pace beat for beat.

A note on workflow (for anyone who shoots in tight windows)

When you only have a couple of hours, speed isn’t about rushing — it’s about removing friction:

• Keep the light predictable, then build variety through pose, crop and styling changes.
• Work in short “bursts” per look: establish the hero frame, then iterate with micro-adjustments.
• Prioritise 2–3 repeatable directions (chin, shoulders, hands) that you can return to when a look changes.

Look notes: the beaded veil / mesh portraits

The public images you can see above the paywall are from a beaded mesh veil look — graphic, textural, and instantly editorial. The net catches specular highlights, adds structure across the face, and turns small head movements into something cinematic.

A few things that make this styling work (and what I’m looking for when I shoot it):

• Eyes first. With a veil, the viewer’s anchor has to be the eyes — so I’m watching catchlights, eyelid shape and the exact point of focus.
• Controlled gesture. Hands near the veil can look chaotic quickly; the cleanest frames usually come from slow, deliberate adjustments rather than big movement.
• Texture without clutter. The mesh is the “pattern”. Everything else needs to stay calm so the image doesn’t become visually noisy.