People Skills for Portrait Photography

							Title:
People Skills for Portrait Photograp
hy

Word Count:
965

Summary:
Taking great portraits is as much a
bout people skills as it is about t
echnical ability, or using the late
st and greatest photographic equipm
ent. Unless you can first see thro
ugh your subject's eyes, and unders
tand her as a unique individual, an
d then build rapport with her so yo
u can unveil and accentuate her fin
est qualities, your portraits will
remain mediocre at best. Some less
ons learned along my journey as a p
hotographer may help those who choo
se to follow.


Keywords:
photography, portrait photography,
child photography, women, children,
 hobby, hobbies, amateur photograph
er, photographer, outdoor photograp
her, camera, digital photography
Article Body:
Taking great portraits is as much a
bout people skills as it is about t
echnical ability, or using the late
st and greatest photographic equipm
ent. Sure, refining your technical
 skills and knowledge may expand th
e extent of your capabilities, and
using superior equipment may indeed
 boost your edge. But, unless you
can first see through your subject'
s eyes, and understand her as a uni
que individual, and then build rapp
ort with her so you can unveil and
accentuate her finest qualities, yo
ur portraits will remain mediocre a
t best. Some lessons learned along
 my journey as a photographer may h
elp those who choose to follow.

1. If using a tripod, compose your
 portrait and then take one step ju
st to the side and forward from the
 camera. Do not look through the v
iewfinder as you capture your subje
ct's image. This allows you to mak
e eye contact initially with your s
ubject, and then direct her in mood
, expression, position, and the ang
le of gaze you are aiming for. Whe
n your subject interacts with your
camera, the result can be a cold or
 lifeless rendering, but when you e
ngage your subject through eye cont
act, expression, gestures and words
, the result can be a warm and cand
id reflection, charged with mood or
 emotion.

2. If you are not using a tripod,
you really should redouble your eff
ort to maintain constant interactio
n with your subject. Many photogra
phers tend to keep their eyes in th
e viewfinder of the camera, but thi
s leads to your subject interacting
 more with the front glass in your
lens than with you. Again, you do
not want the sterile and lifeless r
endering that most often comes when
 the camera serves to isolate you t
he photographer from your subject.
 Interaction with an inanimate obje
ct (your camera) can never be a sub
stitute for interaction with anothe
r human being (you), when your goal
 is to capture the essence of your
subject, and reflect the attitude a
nd emotion she was feeling at that
moment in time.
3. Allow your subject to be hersel
f. A little girl dressed up in fai
ry wings for a special picture is v
ery cute, and I suppose there is a
place in this world for cute. But,
 contrast this with the little girl
 who just loves to dance. You put
her in her everyday clothes, stand
her in front of a plain backdrop, p
ut on her favorite music and say to
 her, "can you show me how to dance
 to this song?" You should have no
 difficulty in capturing timeless e
xpressions there. Now imagine a je
ans and t-shirt kind of guy whose t
rue passion in all of life is saili
ng. You dress him up in a tailored
 suit; formally pose him in front o
f a low key backdrop, seated in a C
hippendale chair, and use classic l
oop lighting. What would be said o
f this portrait years later? "Who
was this guy, an executive?" But j
ust suppose, you photographed this
same guy in his favorite t-shirt an
d blue jeans, at the helm of his be
loved sail boat, on a beautiful lat
e afternoon, just as the boat was c
oming about? What would be said of
 this portrait years later? "This
was Charlie, doing what he loved mo
st! That was such a glorious day."
  The point is, "keep it honest".
Fantasy can be cute, but your subje
ct being herself, years later this
will be much more meaningful.

4. Allow your subject's expression
 to be honest. A frown or a grimac
e that is genuinely felt can be mor
e interesting than a smile that is
forced. I try to never just pose m
y subject and then say, "Okay, now
smile for me." If you want your su
bject to smile then tell a joke, pu
t on a face, or perhaps merely smil
e at her and she will smile back at
 you. People generally tend to ref
lect in their face what they see in
 yours, but in my experience this i
s not always so. Nevertheless, int
eraction with your subject is the k
ey. That being said, the next time
 you have a difficult subject ask h
im to tell you a joke, to bring out
 a smile, if that's the expression
you are after. If you are a profes
sional, you know that smiles sell,
but if you're an amateur, you are u
nder no pressure to sell, so make y
our portraits interesting. Not eve
rything in the world is to smile about.
5. Direct your portraits. Take co
ntrol of the composition of your po
rtraits! Do not be afraid to tell
or show your subject what you want.
  Sometimes showing is best. I oft
en find that actually demonstrating
 a pose I have in mind, works bette
r than trying to direct my subject
through words alone. If you are ph
otographing a group, your life will
 be easier, if you arrange and pose
 the adults first. Then, work your
 way from oldest (or more mature an
d settled) to youngest of the child
ren. The point to remember is, as
the photographer, you should take c
harge of the shot. The success or
failure of the portrait will be you
r responsibility, so take charge.

Engage your subject to establish an
d build rapport with her, to take y
our photos to a higher level. Make
 your portraits more meaningful by
keeping them honest, and natural.
We all know a fantasy photo can be
cute, and a formally posed portrait
 can be graceful and dignified, if
that is your subject's personality.
  But, a portrait that is true to t
he subject is always more meaningfu
l. Allow your subject to be hersel
f, and never force an expression.
Learn to take charge and direct you
r portraits and you will move far a
head in your journey as a photograp
her. Practice your people skills w
ith each portrait you take. People
 skills are the prerequisite to all
 else, if you want to take great po
rtraits. Good day and happy clicking!