Photo gallery: Richard Wood’s mystical images

RIchard Wood's moody portrait images have won a slew of awards in his home country of New Zealand. His words on portrait making: “What separates a powerful portrait is emotion. A portrait is more than a snap of a subject. A portrait needs to show us who the subject is and what they’re about. It needs to tell a story and, ideally, stir some emotions in the viewer. A strong portrait will connect with us. Sometimes we can accomplish this through a detailed display of all sorts of elements that make up a person or a story. Sometimes it’s just a particular look from the subject—the eyes can hold it all.”RELATED: Wood's tips on improving your photography