How to shoot successful portraits

What’s the one mistake most portrait photographers don’t realize they’re making—and how could fixing it instantly elevate your shots?

The most important thing you can do is to connect with your subject(s). Be a person to them before you are a photographer.

• Ask them about their previous experiences.
• Find out what is most important to them and what the shoot is for.
• Be aware of the lighting.
• Always give positive feedback.
• Show them how to pose.
• Use the background to add context to their story.
• Think about post-processing.
• Think about mood.

 If you would like to know more, please take a look at my ebook (also available as a pdf) click here; “A Brief Guide to Portrait Photography”. 

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Transcript

>> Graham: 0:17

I have a question for you. What's the one mistake that most portrait photographers don't realize they're making? And how could fixing it instantly elevate your shots? So that's what I'm going to be talking about in this podcast and we're going to go through a few things. Ah, some areas where in my experience, a lot of photographers make mistakes and these may well include something you're doing before I do that because I always forget. It's just a reminder to ask you to subscribe, because most like 90% plus of the people who listen to the podcast aren't subscribed on YouTube. So please do that and also drop me an email or a comment or something if you have a question you would like me to cover in one of these podcasts. Because the whole purose of this is to help you with your photography. But if I don't know what your problems are, it's a lot harder for me because I have to guess. So going back to portrait photography, which is what this particular podcast is about now for me this is one of the most, I think personal as well as important areas of photography because we all have people in our lives who matter a lot to us. And the sad fact is that people come and go for various reasons, but the people who are in our lives today may not necessarily be in our lives in 5 years time or 10 years time. And also if you have a strong focus on family in particular, and I'm really talking to the people who love doing their family trees and that kind of thing, finding a photograph of somebody who you've never met because you're separated by time can be make quite a big difference. So I remember finding a photograph of my grandmother's father and he died long before I turned up. So it was really nice to see a picture of him and there was some sense of the man. And this is one of the important things about portrait photography. If you're doing it right, when somebody looks at the photograph of that person, they get some sense of who they are or who they were depending on when you're looking at them. So how do you go about that? Now I'm going to talk through a few things that I think will help. I'm also going to mention an ebook that is now available, that I have on the website. It's looking at portrait photography. I put out some quite low cost books because I think it's good to get thought suggestions, maybe insights into some of the techniques that are used. But I don't want to make these things really expensive. So the idea is to make these ebooks first of all immediately, available straight away, and they're available as PDFs as well as the ebook format. And also the very low cost. You can just jump on the website, buy one and get cracking. So the very first thing to do, and this goes back to when I was training as, a professional portrait photographer. The most important lesson for me was just spending time with the subject. So the way I would do my photography, it would involve turning up at somebody's home and taking photographs of them, their family, whatever they wanted. But the most important lesson that I learned from that was that when I turned up, I would leave all of my gear in the car and just go in and sit down with the people I was going to be photographing and have a cup of coffee with them and just chat about them, the kind of portraits they wanted. I'd also have a look around their home, just, I wasn't creeping around rooms or anything, but just have a look around their home to look at the kind of decor they had. Because I'd be offering a full, framed service as part of what I offered. But the key thing about that and the reason for doing that is that you want people to see you as a person and not a photographer. And the reason for that is very simply that many people are quite intimidated by having a, portrait taken. A lot of people. I include myself in this, by the way. This is one of the reasons I got into photography, because I hated having my photo taken. So it was much easier and it was very convenient to be on the other side of the camera. But you have to remember that this can be quite a stressful experience for, ah, a lot of people if they're not used to it. So the most important thing you can do is to get them to relax with you and see you as a person, have a chat to them, get them talking to you. And it's like when you meet anybody new and if you think of just social situations, if you're meeting somebody for the first time and you may be looking at some kind of relationship with them, it could be, a working relationship or something else. Initially there's that kind of tension, there's that wondering what they like, are they a threat. All that kind of stuff will be going through somebody's mind. So as a portrait photographer, the most important thing is to get them to relax and to begin to trust you and the best way to do that is to get them talking about themselves because we're all more comfortable, I think, and, well, we're more comfortable, I think, talking about ourselves. But also everybody likes to feel hurt. So one of the things you can do is just chat about maybe what kind of experience they've had with portrait photographers in the past. What did they like? And one of the things about asking the question about what did somebody like about something? Is that nine times out of ten, if there has been a problem, they will volunteer it. So you don't have to ask if they've had any bad experience with portrait photographers. Focus on the positive or even just a general question. what's your experience? Been a portrait photographers? Have you had your portrait taken before? Just those kind of open questions so that they can tell, you about their experience. And in doing that you can just listen for potential problem areas. Maybe someone was a bit abrupt with them, maybe someone was a bit unsympathetic when they couldn't do the pose or whatever it might be. But just listen to what the problems are and get those out. And then the other thing is to just get an idea of the kind of shots they want. Maybe who the photograph is for. It might be for a particular person, it might be for a particular event, but get a good understanding of that. Let them really tell you everything about this shoot that they want to have as an outcome. And I'm a big one for writing things down. quite often actually I don't need to write it down. But again, thinking about it from their perspective, if you're sitting having a conversation with somebody about a photo shoot and there are certain shots that are really important to them, if you write them down, what difference does it make to that person? So put yourself in the situation of a restaurant. If you're at a restaurant and you order a meal, how do you feel about the, serving staff who write everything down and go off to the kitchen versus the people who don't run anything down and go off to the kitchen? Which one do you have the greater confidence in? So this is, this might sound like silly stuff and it may not sound like it has much to do with photography, frankly, but this, but it does because, very simply, if someone not trusting you, if they're a little bit tense with you, that will show in the photographs that they'll have. You know what it's like when we'tense. We get, know, portraits looking at faces. So you get that look in your face, you know, muscles, a little Bit tense, all of that. And it looks, you can just see when you look at the final photograph that these people are not relaxed, they're not happy, they don't trust you, all of that kind of thing. And you really don't want that in, a shoot, particularly if it's one you're charging for. So take that time and just talk them through. Once you've got the list of what they want, just talk them through what you've got in mind, the kind of poses you do. And at that point you probably want to get the gear out. Now, I was doing family photos and what I used to find work really well was if there, were children about, and, obviously mum and dad need to be okay with it, mum or dad, whoever's there. But quite often the kids would want to get involved. And it was actually a great way of keeping them focused on the shoot because children notoriously have a very short attention span. So if you get them involved in the process, then they will stay with you for a lot longer. So one of the things I would do would get them to come and help me get the gear out of the car if it's obviously safe. And, just small things they could carry for me because kids love it. They love to be involved in what's going on. And I would always have a prepared shoot list. So it was kind of just a basic standard shoot list of what I would do with a family. Now that's for that kind of work. But for the portrait work you're doing, if you don't have a shoot list, I suggest you think of one. And the kind of thing that's in there are just headshots, maybe three quarter shots, full length shots, group shots, individuals. if it's a family group, I might get mum and dad together. I might have the kids on their own, individually and then together if there's more than one, the whole family together, all that kind of thing. So I'd work out what I wanted to do. Now, another option you have, and again, it depends what the shoot is for, is that you might do a costume change, as it were. So again, the tip there, if you are doing a more formal shoot, maybe initially you might do it in more formal clothing and then you do an informal shoot. So more casual clothing. Always do the formal one first. And the reason for that is that during those initial shots, the subject is likely to still be a little bit tense even though you've relaxed them because you are now doing it. Know you're not talking about it. You're actually going through the process of, the shoot, the photography. So they've kind of got to get over that nervousness that they will naturally have if they're not comfortable in front of a, camera. just a thought. With selfies these days, I might be not talking so much about younger people, but, certainly people more my age, may not like it that much. So do the formals first, because if people are a little bit stiff, a little bit tense, it, it won't take away from the photo. You kind of expect that a little bit with, a more formal pose. And hopefully once you've gone through that process, they're starting to relax more in front of the camera. So the kind of things to do when you're shooting is first of all with the poses, make. Make sure you've got a few poses in your back pocket, as it were. So a few standard things and be prepared to show them. So I would always turn up, not scruffy, but ready to sit on the floor or do whatever I had to do. So, I would show people how I wanted them to pose, first of all. And it might literally be sitting on the floor or sitting wherever, because I used to like finding more interesting locations to do, shoots. But that's another subject really. So know some poses and be prepared to show people how to pose and then just help them get into the pose. Now, when you're shooting, always be positive. Give them lots of feedback. So you say, oh, that's great, I love that. Now can you just move your hand slightly to the left? Or can you. Now look to the right and that's fantastic. And look at a car or a tree or whatever, something they can see. Give them something specific to look at if you don't want them looking directly at you. So that might be one of the POs or one of the sequence to have maybe, head and shoulder type shots where they're looking directly at the lens and then off to one side of the frame, out of frame somewhere. So have a think all of that through. But give them very, very clear instructions. Give them lots of positive feedback. If they're getting it wrong, just say something like, that's great. Now let's just try you with your arm slightly elevated. Or in fact, let me just show you how. I'd like you to do that. But it's all got to be positive. the other thing is to show them. So the great thing about digital photography, because I did this with film which was a lot harder, is you can show them some of the photographs. So as you go, you can show them what you're shooting. And if they like the results, that's going to relax them a lot more. Because obviously what you're doing is you'building trust. they can see the results now, and they know at that point that you know what you're doing and that all of the process up to that point is, resulting in the kind of images that they want. Now, it also gives you an opportunity, if they're not what they want, there's an opportunity to just change what you're doing to, shoot slightly differently, to correct whatever the errors are. It's important to get that feedback. And what you're doing throughout the shoot is positive reinforcement, so that they get more relaxed, they feel more positive about what you're shooting. When it comes to, the informal stuff, then you can maybe play around a lot more. But generally at that point they are a lot more relaxed. They trust you, they trust your process, and that will make the whole shoot, go much more smoothly. So these are really the key things up to this point. And you may notice that I haven't said a single word about the actual equipment you're using. So this podcast isn't a portrait, workshop, although I might do one. there is a lot of detail in the ebook, and that's designed to be more of a kind of reference, so it'll run through different things, so explain different kind of, lighting, that sort of thing. but obviously you need to have a think about how you're going to shoot people, in the nicest possible way. So because I was going to people's homes, I would generally shoot them outside. So I'm using natural light. And one of the things I would do because often I wouldn't have been to their home before. So I'm working it out, on the fly pretty much as I arrive. So there are certain things you've got to look for. And the most important one from a lighting perspective is making sure you've got somewhere where you've got a fairly even light. So if it's very sunny where you are, or if you're choosing to shoot on a very sunny day, you really want to find somewhere that's shaded, because what will tend to happen, and this is true, even if people are looking away from, let's say, the sun, I'm assuming that's the source of light we're working with. People will Tend to squint a little bit, if it's very bright. So ideally, you want to find somewhere where you can create some shade. I would look for perhaps walls that were, away from the sun. Ideally, the some would be one side of their home, and I'd be shooting on the other so that it was as shaded as I could get. But even so, they're probably looking into fairly bright lights. So, again, that can result in squinting, which you don't want. So really the ideal day or the ideal kind of weather for portrait, photography is a nice, even overcart. So it might not look very exciting, when you're shooting it. But of course, we've got the benefit of pose processing. So then we can work with the lighting and we can work with colors. we can look at color saturation if you want to do that. We can shoot in black and white. we can vary the contrast. There's a lot of things we can do in post. And think about that when you're planning the shoot, it's quite likely that there are certain things you once try, in posts that will give you a certain effect. So I remember doing a shoot with somebody. it was actually at a place called Garden. Sorry, it was Cockatoo island in, Sydney. And Cookoo island used to be, a Navy facility. It was closed down in the 80s and it's now been redeveloped, a fair bit, I believe. So I haven't been there for a while, so it's not quite a location. It was. But for me it was fantastic because there were all these old industrial sort of buildings that you could, use. And I think they've actually kept some of that character because it was used as a TV location for some, reality shows. And there's also camping there and things like that. But there were these fantastic buildings. Some of them were industrial from the time of, the Navy Yardss. There were some cranes there which were fantastic. And there are also some older buildings that go back to the Colonial date. So they are these sandstone buildings. And of course, sandstone has this wonderful coloring if you grab it at the right time of day. So here we're talking golden hour, in the afternoon usually. But it's just great. So, again, think about the location that you're using, because this is, the other aspect of portrait photography. So you've got catching the person's character. But the other element that I think is also very important is to tell their story. So what's the context now if you're really lucky, you'll be able to shoot them somewhere that has relevance to their story. And the example I generally give is that if you are working with somebody who, let's say, designs boats, you might shoot them in their, design studio or their office, wherever they work. So you'll have them, in frame obviously, but use something like the rule of thirds so that you create, additional space that isn't them. So that gives you room to create story. And people love stories. So I talk a lot about the visual storyteller, but be a storyteller. So in that space that you've created, you might have, a display monitor, their computer with some drawings on it. There might be drawings on a wall, plans for, a boat if they're designing boats. Or you might choose to locate them outside. So this could be in a marina. it might be at a workshop. If, the boats are being built locally, that's a fantastic place to, position them. So think about their story. They might be into sports, they might be involved in a club. So if you can get to the club, do that or maybe have, something to do with the club, maybe clothing or banners or whatever it might be. But have a think about location and I'll call them props for the sake of calling them anything else. But anything else that you can include in the shot which supports them, tells their story. And this also is an important part of portraiture, in my opinion. It's getting the essence of the person. So you really want them relaxed, you want them looking, ideally looking at you. Because we connect with people by looking them in the eye. So the chances are the most powerful shots you're going to get are where they're looking directly into the lens, at you. And it's going to take with a lot. With some people, they're really good at doing it, they'll just dive in and do it. With other people, you've got to work on them. So that's why you would go through the process that I've already described. But when you do that, you have the opportunity to get these great photographs where they're looking directly at you. If you've got something around them that gives context, that context that is great. or alternatively, you might want nothing at all. You might want to go for a really powerful high impact black and white shot where you've lit it so that their face, or maybe even just part of their face is lit, but everything else is dark. that can give you very high Impact, very powerful shot. The other aspect of black and white, which may work for you, it might work against you, is that black and white, it is all about shapes and textures. So if you're photographing somebody who is older, maybe, their face has the lines of a life, well, let's say well lived, but you've got all of that life experience in their face. What you have to be careful of though is if it's somebody, maybe younger or male, female, it doesn't matter. But where they have blemishes in their skin, they might be sensitive about these. And if you go to black and white, if you're not very careful with, how you handle those, it can be quite unflattering as a portrait. So be clear about what your client is looking for, but bear these things in mind. So I'm just going to recap at this point because I think that's probably enough. hopefully it's given you some ideas, some insights and maybe, shown you where you might be going wrong with when you're shooting your portraits. So the very first thing is to really work with the person, become, become a person to them. So sit down, talk to them, talk about their experiences with having their portrait done, how they feel about it, Are they looking forward to it? Are they a bit nervous? What are they nervous about? Get clear about what photographs they particularly want and perhaps what they're for, because that also may give you some ideas. Think about including children. If they are there, get them involved in the process. And also if you are shooting children, shoot them first because as I've said, they have, generally quite short attention spans and you don't want them. They'll either get bored or they might get really disruptive and either way you don't really want them to upset the shoot that way. one tip when you are photographing them is to give them something to do. So it might be, putting something together, I mean, let's say Lego, if they're into that kind of thing. it might be making something if it's, I know sampit or something like that. But have a think about it, get them to do something and in that way they're absorbed. It will give you a much more natural looking portrait anyway. And again, chat to them. And this is the important thing. Whether it's, an adult or a child, keep talking. So as you shoot, give them clear direction, show them how to pose, show them what you want them to do, always say they're doing great and then add some additional Direction if the pose isn't correct or if you want to do something different. But it always give them positive feedback. The key thing about this is to make it an enjoyable experience for them. It will show in the photographs. And also if you are doing this as a business, the chances are that they will refer you for other people. So it's a great way of getting new work. So positive feedback. And then think about lighting. obviously if you're in a studio or some other sort of setup, then you've got a lot more control over lighting. And in the ebook I talk through different types of lighting you can use and Rembrandt triangles and that kind of thing. so you can play with all of those, you can design all those. If you're doing more natural shots so you're outside, you've obviously got less control. So the ideal day is when it's a general overcast so you've got a nice even lighting. And what you really want to get away from is squinting. Because the key thing about a portrait is to have good eye to eye contact. So make sure at least some of your photographs are of your subject looking directly into the camera lens, directly looking at you. And the best way to get that kind of shot is to build that rapport with them initially. So I think some photographers just want to get in and do it. But spending that time and building rapport with your clients is really important and it can give you far, far better results than if you just dive in and start shooting. And then the final thing to think about is context, telling their story. What is this story? What can you add to the photograph that somebody looking an att, it can immediately make some additional connection about this person. Or do you want to go the other way? Do you want to go, for a very hard, high contrast black and white shot, no background, but very high impact. Here we're looking at a particular mood of photograph. And of course the final thing is to think about post processing, how you're going to use it. So I remember shooting at Coockoo island that I spoke about earlier. And there were some great props there to use. And I was photographing this young woman and she was mostly dressed in black, but she had a sort of red band around her middle. And I just played with that in post processing. I desaturated most of the color but there was just this one bit of colour in there and that I really liked. but again, look at your compositions. Think about rule of thirds, think about other things. So that's it. I hope you found that useful. I hope it's given you some ideas. as I say, please subscribe. And remember, there is the ebook. So it is online now jump on my website, www.ge.photography and yeah, that kind of includes all the sort of detailed stuff that you might want to refer back to with your portrait photography. And I hope you find that very useful. So that's it from me. I'll speak to you in the next podcast by now. Oh, and a couple more things just before I go. The first one is to please give me a like or a subscribe, if you're particularly if you're listening to me on YouTube. And the other thing is just to remind you that I do have a live online workshop running on Sunday 30th March. So there is information on the website about that, but please take a look. And I'll be taking you through how to make an immediate improvement to your photography. So if you're struggling a little bit and you just want to see immediate changes, sign up and I'll give you six things that you can apply straight away. Thanks again for listening and I'll speec to you next time.