Hayley Marie Coppin has been studying the craft. She stands in her photographer's studio in a sleek black sleeveless top and fitted black trousers, leafing through a glossy photography book with a focused expression, the tripod set up beside her and the DSLR on its mount already pointed in her direction. Black-and-white portrait prints dominate the walls around her, and a thick white rug spreads across the polished wooden floor beneath her bare feet. She looks exactly like someone who knows precisely what makes a perfect picture and is quietly deciding how far she intends to take this particular session.
The answer, it turns out, is all the way. The black top is lifted away first, and Hayley tilts toward the lens with the cool, deliberate poise of someone who has thought carefully about every angle and decided she owns them all. The trousers follow, and she moves through the studio with a photographer's eye for composition and a model's effortless command of the frame. This is the perfect picture, she says. She is absolutely right, and she knows it.