Lighting a perfect scene: meet Roy Sabay | London Portrait Photographer

Meet Roy. I call him the light master. Because quite literally, Roy lights a scene to perfection. Not just sometimes. But always. Not just when he gets a lucky shot. Always. Roy doesn’t get lucky, nor does he ‘spray and pray’. Roy makes the shot he wants. And he makes it in-camera. Post processing only gives it the final touch.

Roy and I go a long way back…a long 25 years back or so. Even back then Roy always had a passion for photography, he admitted this to me in passing of late. He never let on though, he was this cool chilled out guy, always making people laugh, always humble about his skills. Roy never thought he was good enough to carry a proper camera let alone be a photographer.

Enter Facebook. Roy and I got in touch again. It was Roy who encouraged me to get fast lenses, who nagged me to shoot manual, who incessantly ordered me to learn Photoshop. He even offered to give me a workflow which I stupidly declined. I could not process all the information in at once and all terms technical simply went over my head.

I ogled Roy’s perfect landscape and seascape photos and wished I had the opportunity to join his workshops. It was Roy who introduced me to the amazing world of Joey L, Jerry Ghionis, Cliff Mautner – geniuses who light their portraits to perfection.

I would regularly pick Roy’s brain late into the night via Facebook asking him how to edit this and correct that, sending him Amazon links to equipment and asking for his advice on which ones are good to get. I remember one time after shooting one of my very first weddings several years ago, I sent him a photo for advice on how to make it better. ‘Sorry it’s beyond repair’, he said bluntly. And I didn’t think it was that bad! Thank goodness for friends who speak painful truth.

Now the light master is expanding his portfolio and embracing wedding photography. I have seen some of his engagement sessions or what is commonly known in the East as pre-nuptial shoots, and they are jaw-dropping awesome. Each frame from Roy’s camera is like a piece of art. Confident and well executed. Perfectly lit.

This is my little way of thanking a good friend for encouraging and helping me in this photography journey that has no end; there is always much to learn. Thank you Roy and more power and success to you and your beautiful family! You can contact Roy via his Facebook Page Memries ‘n Stills. All images on this blog feature are courtesy of Roy Sabay Photography. Roy has photographed in Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. He is based in the Philippines and travels for destination shoots.