In a studio — and I remind you I do very little of this work — it’s a bit easier.  The client comes in, you can sit and talk.  Offer a cup of tea or coffee.  Discover a little about them.

I recently had a formal portrait session with a woman who needed a decent head shot for LinkedIn.  She was referred to me by Paul, my trainer (who I haven’t seen in FOREVER and my ass is getting as fat as Kim Kardashians).

Anyway, I had no idea what to expect when she walked through the door.  

In walked a beauty.  And, despite what she said, she was very easy to photograph.

Most call people who are easily captured in photos “photogenic”.  I think that’s silly — I think people who are easily photographed are comfortable.  They like themselves.  They are happy with how they look.

That’s not to say they aren’t trying to lose a few pounds, or maybe have fleshy arms, or a zit/ wrinkle.  

In another case, it doesn’t mean their entire left side of their face isn’t plastic from the car accident a few years back.

It just means they are happy.  And, when they smile — it shows.

So in walks my beauty.  I got to know her.  Her goal was simple: to join a flight team on private jets.  Basically, to make a second career as a luxury flight attendent.

So we did a series of photos, all with a traditional background.  On a whim, for one, I grabbed my roller board, and  posed her, gripping the handle.

I have the list of photos she liked from the shoot — the one’s I’ll be touching up.  I suspect one of those with the roller board (while not a traditioinal head shot) will be on the list.  I’ll let you know. (It was.)

Why do I think that?  Like me, as soon as she grabbed the suitcase, she looked natural.

She looked like a luxury jet flight attendent.  She looked like someone that should be on your jet.

I tend to like a high key style in traditional photos — I just do.  High key is a white background, backlit.  It’s my go to backer, despite trying to get away from it — I just always seem to like it.  I put the flight attendent against a high key, white backer, then switched to gray.  Ewwww.  It just wasn’t working for me.

Lighting is (obviously) key in portraiture, and you read a million opinions on how a portrait should be lit. Butterfly lighting, high key, 2/3, everyone has an opinion about how a portrait should be lit.  I tend to like BRIGHT photos, maybe even a bit over exposed, especially on someone over the age of 10.  Why?  It’s a natural wrinkle and flaw reducer: get light into the folds and bags of skin, and they just disappear.  Just don’t over do it: there is a trend of blown out portrait images.  

While thinking about this topic, I’ve thumbed through portraits I’ve taken.  And I came across my holiday photos, another story.  What happens when it’s a couple? Or a family?  You see a little of the family relationship with the GWB photo in the previous post, but usually, you’re not shooting with the former President of the United States as a prop! And, you guessed it, as the photographer you have to pay attention to the interaction between the subjects in the photo.  A simple change in posing means the world.  Just taking a moment and adjusting how they are posed can mean the difference between a warm photo, and a cold one.

Here’s an example from the holiday card shoot in Phoenix: