Looking back at my early portraits often breaks my heart. I’m not even afraid to admit it now. My goal is to be a competent portrait photographer, but I’m extremely shy and don’t know how to interact with people in front of my camera. I’m not always happy with my results, as I can never seem to connect with my subjects on a deep enough level for them to catch their guard.
After a long period of trial and error, and noticing the work of other photographers I admire, I have finally found a method that works for me. However, many of my early portraits look like test shots with no trace of life in them, as my sole goal is to make sure that the photos are well lit and composed. suitable department. In other words, capturing realistic expressions during a photo session didn’t come naturally to me. At all. Not even a little bit. But when I was finally brave enough to look at my work critically, I realized that I needed to turn my weakness into strength.
I believe this is a common problem faced by a lot of photographers working today. Many photographers focus so much on lighting, composition, style, etc., that they forget that they are photographing a person and not a product. Don’t get me wrong, those ingredients are absolutely critical to a photograph’s success, but I would argue that a portrait without any trace of emotion dies by the time it appears. Furthermore, I’ve seen several celebrity portraits published with a bit of motion blur or slightly out of focus that were completely successful because the person was animated. Interestingly, this was more common when film was the photographic standard, and perhaps the more natural or natural moments took precedence over the obsession to perfect still images as we are so used to these days. now.
Two photographers that I admire very much are Peggy Sirota and Ben Watts for their superhuman ability to bring out the best out of their role model and evoke emotions that no one else can get from them. Seriously, look them up. They have a secret sauce, I have no question. Better yet, watch some behind-the-scenes videos to see how they work and interact with their audience. It is for this reason that their work appears in the biggest magazines month after month.
So how does a photographer bring out the best of a person while shooting portraits you may ask? I won’t claim to be an authority on the subject, but here are some methods that have worked well for me so far:
- This first point may sound counter-intuitive but trust me on this one. Don’t get too involved with the model in conversation until you’ve started taking pictures. To be polite, of course, but I try to say the bare minimum until I’ve taken any light test shots and I’m ready to go. My main goal was to get to know them as the scene unfolded.
- Put them in a position you like, then talk to them. Talk about where they come from, their school or work, their ambitions, their favorite music, their food, their love life, whatever. The point is to get the person in front of you to talk about whatever they’re going to join you for, to distract them from what they’re doing at the very moment, which is your photo session.
- Leave your ego at the door. I don’t mind being silly or telling embarrassing stories about myself to make the other person feel more comfortable. This can feel like a lot of work, but it’s well worth the extra effort in my opinion. For the recording, it took me a long time to feel confident with this technique. I also try to avoid self-deprecating humor, as that can really backfire if not done carefully, and yes, I know from experience.
- Energy is important and music helps. I always have a playlist of high-energy photography ready and often ask the subject if they have music they would like to hear when we shoot. I also try to avoid drinking too much caffeine so that high energy doesn’t turn into anxiety energy.
- Keep an eye on real moments and get ready to capture them like a sniper. I’ve watched too many behind-the-scenes photography videos posted online where models have amazing expressions scattered throughout the video, but the final images are somehow lifeless because the photographer doesn’t pay attention to the style. model’s natural state.
If you’re ready to tell me I’m wrong, let me get ahead of you by admitting that there are of course a few exceptions. Fashion photography is a great example of a genre that doesn’t necessarily prioritize vivid expressions to succeed. One could argue that the person featured in a fashion photo is merely an accessory to the outfit, but I’ll leave that to others to determine.
Such a wonderful person Dan Winters is another exception. His photographs are not only masterpieces of light, but he always seems to capture subtle yet quite powerful expressions that perfectly accentuate the overall mood of the photo. He’s not the only one, but he immediately comes to mind when I think of well-executed quiet emotions.
Not every photo in the photo shoot requires a happy expression, but I truly believe the shoot will be more successful with a variety of expressions in the bag. I am always more satisfied from a personal point of view and customers love to have options. Just remember, everyone is different, and everyone presents themselves in a different way. At the end of the day, the variety of expressions from photographing different people will naturally add variety to your portfolio that viewers will draw in. And that’s a great thing.
