Why I Love Optics: Bella Kotak, Fine Art & Fashion Photographer

Bella Kotak is an award-winning fine art, fashion, and portrait photographer. Her femme-forward, ethereal portraits allow viewers to escape into lush, fairy tale-like worlds. Her work has been featured in magazines, art publications, and at exhibits in London, New York, Paris, and Seoul. She's also an ambassador for Phase One, SmugMug, and Canson Paper, and teaches workshops on her creative photography and post-production processes. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and X. 

If you're already using Optics 2026, you'll recognize her photographic style as our new splash screen! 

Where are you from? How did you get into photography?

I’m from a few places. I grew up in Kenya, later in England, and now I split my time between the UK and the US.

I found my way into photography through Photoshop while studying architecture. I wanted to get better at using the program, and that curiosity led me to pick up a camera. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with blending the two, creating art that felt entirely my own.

Self-portraits by Bella Kotak

What is your go-to camera? Accessories/tools you can’t live without?

When I’m traveling, I use a Canon R5 with a 50mm lens. For more fine-art-focused work, I reach for the medium-format Phase One Trichromatic IQ3 and pair it with an 80mm lens.

As for accessories I can’t live without, I’d say the Profoto A10. It’s a small but mighty light that allows me to get beautiful shots, whatever the conditions.

How does your multi-cultural background influence your photography?

I grew up in a culture that deeply values community and the celebration of light, color, and beauty through fabric, art, and craft. I believe those foundations quietly shaped the direction my work has taken over time.

When I’m dressed and embellished for family or traditional events, I feel it. The women around me feel it too. There is a shared sense of presence, confidence, and grace. We look and feel like queens.

When someone sits in front of my camera, I hope to offer them that same space. A moment to step into that energy, and to discover, or more often rediscover, a confidence they did not even know was there.

What type of stories do you like to tell with your photos?

My favorite stories are escapist ones, where the muse is no longer themselves but fully immersed in a character, living inside a world of make-believe. It takes me back to childhood and the worlds we created and escaped into back then.


Where do you draw creative inspiration from? 

I take a lot of my creative inspiration from the world around me. When I am in the UK, I live in the Oxfordshire countryside. It’s a world full of fields, beautiful gardens, roaming wildlife, and the changing seasons. I think that had I not lived here when I started my photography journey, my art would most likely look very different. I love using photography as a way to step outside, immerse myself in nature, and capture a small fraction of the magic I experience there.

Your shoots feature intricate costumes, accessories & makeup, and highlight the natural world around us. How long does it typically take for you to plan and execute an idea? 

Sometimes a shoot takes months of ideation and sourcing, waiting for the right time of year to use a particular location. Other times, it comes together in just a few minutes, especially if I already have the pieces, and it becomes a collaborative, in-person process with the model and/or my team.

I personally love collaborating with other creatives as it often means the shoot comes together quickly, shaped by everyone’s individual contributions.

How long have you been using Optics? Do you use it only in Photoshop? Lightroom? Standalone?

I’ve been using it in Photoshop for about a year. It is the program where most of my post-production creative work comes together.

What type of photo editing/photo manipulation tasks do you look to a plugin like Optics to help with daily?

At the moment, I find myself using it either at the very beginning of the edit or right at the end. I love exploring what is possible within the program, as it often opens up entirely new creative directions I had not yet considered.

Breathing Light by Bella Kotak

Which Optics effects do you use most — and why? 

I really love the color grades and film stocks, but if I had to choose an absolute favorite, it would be the light rays. Optics adds elements to an image in such a natural way that they look completely realistic. You would never know they were edited in!

Before Optics, how did you create effects like glows and lens flares? Have you used other photo plugins? 

I used to rely on stock images and tools built into Photoshop, and while it worked, it often took a long time. That was fine at the time, but I confess, I really appreciate how much more efficient Optics has made my workflow. It allows me to move through my edits in nearly half the time.

Memories of a Distant Land by Bella Kotak

What are your top reasons why photographers like yourself should use Optics?

I’d say it comes down to three things. Saving time, getting inspired and seeing what is possible, and genuinely having fun while editing.

What’s your best pro tip to artists new to Optics? 

Give yourself some grace and time to get to know the program. Don’t let hesitation around learning something new hold you back. That was my own reservation, but once I started using it, I realized the learning curve wasn’t as steep as I had imagined, and it genuinely became a game-changer for my edits.

Just remember, like incorporating anything new, you won’t be perfect at the start, and that’s okay. Stay curious, and don’t give up :).

What’s your favorite project or image that you’ve ever worked on — and why?

I have too many to share. I really love every photoshoot I am a part of. But if I had to choose one from this year, it would be this moment beneath a beautiful banyan tree in the Azores (pictured below).

For this shoot, I stepped in front of the camera with the girls. It was the final photoshoot of a creative girls' trip, and ending it there with my creative sisters made it a deeply special moment for me.

If you could give one piece of creative advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Probably to assist more, and not just in photography, but in anything that catches your fancy. Most of us learn best by watching others at work, so I would recommend assisting as many professionals as possible. Learn from them, absorb what resonates, and then use that knowledge to carve out a workflow and style that feels entirely your own. 

Also, don’t be disheartened when something does not work out or feel right. Sometimes it becomes easier to niche down and make creative choices once you know what you do not want to do.

If budget were no issue, what is your biggest dream project that you’re willing to share?

Now you have me dreaming!  If budget were truly no issue, I would love to create a global project, capturing magical portraits and sharing stories from locations around the world. A way to immortalize the earth’s natural beauty while spotlighting the human stories woven into those landscapes. I hope one day I can bring this to life.