David Albino is intrigued by raw emotion.

Over the last six years, this intrigue has evolved into what is now Albino’s photography business — DnA Studios.

“There’s nothing better than pure, raw emotion,” he said. “I love shooting people or anything that’s living — anything that can exude emotion.”

DnA Studios has been up and running since June 2010, but Albino began delving into photography around the age of 15, six years ago.

Albino completed one of his favorite works while he was attending Austin High School. The photo is in black and white and shows his hand, with the word “loser” scribbled on it, placed on a mirror. Although a simple photo, Albino said he could see the emotions people felt when they viewed the piece.

“People responded to that picture,” he said.

“I could feel what people were feeling from it. It was so powerful I just wanted to keep going (with photography).”

Albino has certainly grown as an artist since then, but he still focuses primarily on portraying people’s deepest emotions. While he will do studio work, he said his studio is rather “mobile” and he prefers to photograph people in their element.

“I’m a creature of the abstract,” he said. “I feed off people’s potential energy.”

In order to get a feel for his subject’s personality, Albino likes to sit down for coffee with clients before shooting them.

“I have to learn you, and once I’ve learned you I know exactly what I want for my photo shoot,” Albino said. “I’m going to shoot you the way I see you.

“I shoot to kill. If you’re going to shoot a picture, you better capture the emotion the first time.”

Albino’s confidence and ability in capturing his subjects’ passions stems from his theater training. He said he was taught “emotional recall” tactics while studying theater. Emotional recall is used by actors so they can correctly portray an emotion on stage. The actor will recall the memory of something that evokes the appropriate emotion, thus allowing them to portray that feeling again.

“You have to be able to know how to recognize the emotion, and then you have to learn how to recall them and capture them as they are,” he said. “Emotions come in context — you have to play with them in context with your piece.”

Albino will shoot nearly anything, including more traditional photo shoots like engagements and weddings. However, simply because the event may be traditional does not mean Albino will shoot it using a traditional style. When someone commissions him for a job, he always makes sure the person is okay with his abstract, emotion-evoking style.

And he has one caveat for wedding shoots — he won’t shoot in a church.

“I will not take a picture inside of a church to save my life,” he said. “The people are posing and not being themselves.”

As DnA Studios continues to grow, Albino said he is constantly driven by people’s passions and emotions.

“DnA is you. That is your code,” he said. “I am trying to bring out all the potential inside you — with a little high fashion.”