Log in · NINETYFIFTH

Each judge looked at your Drive from one client's point of view and picked a top 30. Here's each one's #1 photo, what they think your website should say, and what they want you to shoot next.

Amanda's own eye #1 pick: #221

“I photograph how people feel: the focus in an artist's eyes, a hug at a party, a laugh caught mid-wave. Hire me and your brand looks like the people behind it, not a stock photo.”

Why #221: Tight crop on the tattoo artist's face over her work, glasses and curls, eyes down. It's the most intimate frame in the set. No posing, just total concentration, and you can feel how much she cares about her craft. It shows my philosophy for a business client: I capture what you love doing, not only what you look like. A salon, studio or artist would see this and want their own work shown that way.

Shoot next: Quiet, story-driven portraits of business owners in their own space: a stylist laughing with a regular client, a chef's hands plating, a boutique owner opening up in the morning light. These are emotional, documentary moments that show who the person is. My best feeling-shots are from parties and personal shoots. I need a few of those same honest moments inside a working business so a beauty or restaurant owner can picture themselves there.

Beauty studio owner #1 pick: #331

“Lead with soft, flattering portraits of real women and artists at work: 'I make your clients look like the best version of themselves, and I make your studio look like the place to get it.' The club nights can live on a separate page.”

Why #331: Soft daylight, glowing hair, relaxed expression against a floral wall. She looks pretty without looking retouched to death. It's polished and warm, and it reads as a real client, which is the exact feeling a brow or lash studio wants clients to picture for themselves. A salon owner would hire from this frame.

Shoot next: Tight beauty close-ups: fresh brows, lash sets, nails and lips in sharp, even, flattering light, plus before/after pairs, treatment-in-progress shots in a bright studio and clean flat lays of tools and products. I'd pay $1,500/month for that, but I can't find a single crisp brow or lash detail shot in here.

Film director #1 pick: #509

“She already shoots like a cinematographer: motivated practical light, deep shadow, strong colour contrast and a lone figure inside a big frame. The site should sell 'your brand, shot like a film still', with fewer, darker, wider frames and no snapshot filler.”

Why #509: Dead-centre symmetry, the hex light rig as a ceiling, the car as the hero subject and the logo on the back wall. It reads like a film's opening frame and a commercial at once. A garage, salon or restaurant owner can picture their own space shot this way, and it's a better business sell than the moodier personal pieces.

Shoot next: Sequences. A director wants to see she can tell a story across frames: an establishing wide, a medium, then a detail insert from one brand shoot, ideally with stills pulled from her video work. Also missing: deliberately lit, quiet portraits of business owners in their own space (a chef at the pass, a stylist at the chair), with the same moody control she shows at night but in daytime commercial settings.

Instagram strategist #1 pick: #509

“Her site should say: I make your business the thing people stop scrolling for. Lead with bold-colour, vertical, brand-in-frame shots (cars, food, styled beauty sets, artists at work), and keep club crowds as a small 'energy' proof section, not the headline.”

Why #509: Green Lambo under the hex-light ceiling with the Tintastic logo on the back wall: perfectly symmetrical, saturated, already vertical so it crops cleanly to 4:5 and 9:16, and the client's brand is in the shot. It reads instantly at phone size and says 'I shoot businesses', not 'I shoot parties'.

Shoot next: Vertical-native beauty and salon work: a stylist or esthetician mid-service with clean light, tight before/after-friendly detail shots (lashes, brows, nails, hair), and product-in-hand shots with the brand logo readable. Also flat-lay and menu-item shots on a clean branded backdrop, plus behind-the-scenes frames of her shooting, so small businesses can picture her in their space.

Magazine art director #1 pick: #509

“Her site should say: controlled light, bold colour and graphic composition for brands that want to look expensive. Lead with a tight 12 of her most designed frames (the rim-lit studio portraits, the symmetrical garage, the macro tattoo hands, the saturated diner and food work) and let the event coverage live on a separate page.”

Why #509: Most fully designed frame in the drive: dead-centre symmetry, the hex light grid leading down to the acid-green car, logo wall as the vanishing point, deep blacks and one bold accent colour. It reads instantly as commercial work for a brand, it shows she can light a space as well as a face, and it still looks strong cropped to a wide web banner.

Shoot next: A cohesive branded series for one beauty or salon business: the owner's lit portrait, hands-on service details, the space styled and empty, and product flat-lays, all graded the same way. Right now her strongest frames come from different shoots with different grades. Brands hiring an art-directed shooter want to see a single campaign that holds one visual voice across 8 to 10 frames, ideally in a clean, bright, daylight look to balance all the night and neon work.

Music label A&R #1 pick: #374

“She can light a stage, own a night, and build a cinematic single frame. The site should lead with performers, moody artist portraits and concept shoots, so it says she shoots artists, not just a club photographer at parties.”

Why #374: Tattooed performer under hard blue stage light with the crowd reaching up into the frame. It has heat, contrast and a clear subject, and it reads as a live photo an artist would post the next morning. It answers the one question a label asks: can she make our act look like a headliner?

Shoot next: A real artist press set: one act shot several ways in one controlled session, with a clean headshot, a full-length look, a moody concept frame and a square crop that works as cover art. She also has no proven single or album cover, no backstage or green-room storytelling, and no tight close-ups of a performer's face mid-song. A label wants to see that she can carry one artist's visual identity across a whole rollout, not just catch good moments.

Nightlife promoter #1 pick: #105

“She is the shooter who gets the room: packed floors, artists lit up on stage, and close-up faces people tag the next morning. Her site should lead with that energy and show she can keep the flash clean and the faces sharp in dark venues.”

Why #105: Artist mid-performance under a blue spotlight with the crowd behind him. It's colourful, it has motion, and it shows right away that she can work a dark club and still deliver a frame a promoter would put on the next flyer.

Shoot next: Headliner and crowd in one frame shot from the stage looking out at a packed room, plus clean branded sponsor moments (logo wall, bottle presentation, step-and-repeat) with a recognisable host. Promoters book on that 'sold-out' money shot and on proof the sponsor got seen, and right now her concert coverage is mostly wide or shot from the back of the crowd.

Restaurant owner #1 pick: #534

“Her site should say: I make your room look packed, your plates look craveable and your drinks glow. Lead with the WINGZ food-and-cocktail work and the Melita24/ONE17 crowd energy, not club flash or boudoir.”

Why #534: Wings in checkered paper, two glowing cocktails, warm wood table, the bar and pool room blurred behind. One frame sells food, drinks and venue at once, with warm inviting light. Exactly what a café/bar owner wants on their own homepage, so it's what makes me hire her.

Shoot next: Proper hospitality coverage: bartender pouring or shaking a cocktail mid-motion, chef plating in the kitchen, overhead flat-lay of a full menu spread, empty-room daytime interiors showing design and seating, a server delivering plates to a table, and coffee/brunch daylight shots. Right now food and drink only come from one client (WINGZ), so she needs 2-3 more food/drink sets to look like a real restaurant photographer.

Website sales expert #1 pick: #217

“Lead with 'I make your business look like the place people want to buy from': owners at work, products, spaces and food, shot with real feeling. Nightlife goes last and small, as proof she can handle a crowd, not as who she is.”

Why #217: A tattoo artist mid-session, focused and warmly lit in her own studio. Any salon, studio or beauty owner sees themselves in this frame straight away: a working professional who looks skilled and confident. It's commercial and trustworthy, and it shows her line about capturing how someone feels while they're doing their craft. A small-business owner looks at this and thinks 'I want mine to look like that.'

Shoot next: Clean before/after or result shots for beauty and salon clients (a finished brow, nails or hair close-up), plus clear owner-with-team and storefront exteriors on bright daylight sets. Business owners want to see 'here's what your shop and your result will look like on your website', and the set has almost no polished daytime retail, boutique or salon-interior coverage.

Wedding planner #1 pick: #367

“Her site should open with love stories: the CJ engagement set and the waterfall embrace show she can run a consistent couples shoot with real intimacy, and her baby-shower and first-birthday work proves she catches family emotion. Lead with feeling, not nightlife.”

Why #367: A couple wrapped in an embrace in front of a waterfall, her in a soft pink gown. It's romantic, natural, timeless and close to bridal. It's the one frame that tells a couple 'she'll make us feel like this.' The soft, unforced editing will still look good in ten years.

Shoot next: A full wedding day told start to finish: getting ready, the first look, the ceremony and vows, tears during the ring exchange, family formals, a golden-hour couple portrait and the first dance. Couples need to see one complete, consistently edited wedding gallery before they'll trust her with theirs. Right now the closest thing is one engagement set and a few showers and birthdays. More candid, unposed laughter between partners would also help, along with ring and detail close-ups from a real wedding.

Sign in

Welcome!

Amanda's Studio

Photos

Main page photos

Words & prices

What the panel said about your work

Three ways to show your portfolio

C · The mix (recommended)

A · Brands & businesses

B · Cinematic / artists

Top Shotta Race Track

World Tour

3 on-time finishes unlock Join Creative Club Circuit

November season

Break Time

Level 1 Salon Strip

Finish your next task to unlock 5 more minutes

Paused

LEVEL 1 CLEAR

Break's over. Back to work, Top Shotta.

Level select

New race

Client update

1st place

Drive & Shoot

Salon launch Content Day

Paused

ROUND CLEAR