I have learned that when taking portraits of people the outcome of the image can be influenced by the photographer’s personality. It can be a very difficult task to get someone to “come out of their shell”. However, I have found a few tips to be very helpful when shooting portraits.

Tips:

Always stay calm. Things might not be going exactly your way but stressing out only makes your model feel uncomfortable.

Be yourself. If you are yourself around your model then that makes them feel comfortable to be themselves around you.

Don’t be cheesy. I can’t stand it when some photographers say really cheesy things. You want them to have a good time too.

Get happy. If you are excited about the photos that you are taking then your model becomes more relaxed because the photographer is pleased with what they see.

Don’t make them feel insecure. Not every model is perfect and some might have better features than others; however, never make them feel uncomfortable and DO enhance their best features.

Don’t be so uptight. If the photographer is having fun and then the shoot will go a lot smoother.

So, these are a few tips that I have found very helpful when shooting portraits. I know they work because I have tried them myself. I have had the opportunity to take photos of many different people here at OSU such as President Schmidly, Coretta Scott King and many other professors and faculty; and using these tips have helped me do an efficient job. I hope everyone lets their true self shine through when photographing people.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2006 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Helpful tidbits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.