Beyond Phototips

Photo: TopGun2000What makes the most powerful portraits powerful? What makes them stand out and look you in the face? Why do you feel like the person is looking at you, with meaning?

Possibly because they looked at the photographer, through the lens.

When you’re taking portraits, the most difficult thing to do, and the most important, is to get a great connection between you and the sitter.

After all, your intention is to convey the personality of the person in front of the lens. How do you do this? They’re usually pre-occupied with the makeup, their hair, their clothes… whether you’re going to show them as they are, or going to show them as they don’t want to be shown… How do you get them to get out of their shell, so that you can get “The Shot”?

WHEN DO YOU GET ‘THE SHOT’?

When your sitter looks at you… Not at the camera, not at the lens, not at a black something… When the sitter looks at you; through the lens! Then you’ve got it. That’s when your connection with the sitter comes through… Through the lens, to the photograph. It gives them life, it gives them personality, it makes the photograph real.

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

Keep it real. Keep that inter-personal connection real. Make it last. If you don’t care, its apparent that you don’t really care about your work; they’re not going to either.

Get the technique out of the way. If you’re constantly fiddling with the lights, or your camera, your sitter is constantly reminded of the unnatural situation that they’re in… In front of the lights, or in front of a camera. It only helps them get more nervous. Get your technique worked out in the days before the shoot, and you’ll be able to focus more on that connection!

Make them laugh. Laughter helps create a bond, especially when the time in which to create that bond and bring out those really interesting expressions is very limited. Keep your session light hearted, and you’re likely to gain their trust; and get that photograph.

Take a lot of photographs. If you take only a few photographs, its likely that each of those photographs is going to become an “event”, bringing your sitter’s focus back to the camera, and not to you. When you become the “event” then the sitter is more likely to look at you. Not the camera, not the lens… you can take a cue from the previous tip.

Photo: Simon Pais-ThomasLet them loosen up. Usually, the best shots from a session happen towards the end. Unless the sitter is a professional model, its always difficult to open up and be themselves. Being in front of the camera is difficult if you’re not experienced. Get the sitter to talk, chat, tell a few jokes, let them loosen up and lose that rigidity!

Let it go… Some people just don’t like to be photographed. They may have come to you for a portrait, or for a commercial shoot, but sometimes, they just don’t have what it takes to be themselves in front of the lens. This is usually where the photographer’s people skills and experience comes in to play, but sometimes, you just cant get a photograph with real connect, because they’re not connected! So let it go.

This post was inspired from an interview with British Celebrity photographer Rankin (some of it NSFW) do head over to his website to read the full interview and see his brilliant work.

Here are some links to some beautiful portraits with connect.

Here are a couple more links to get you started off on your portrait photography!

• A collection of Portrait tips from DPS
• 5 Technical tips for better Portraits
• Top Five Tips For Better Portraits
• The portrait photographer’s motivation

I hope that this gets you started off on some really interesting portraits. We’d love to hear from you if you have some more ideas… Do mail me, or leave a comment.

If you liked this post, and would like to receive more like it, do subscribe to the Beyond Phototips RSS feed.