Just One More…

Some of you may have already viewed today’s image.
I wanted to re-visit it, to talk more about my thought process during a portrait session.
During any portrait session, the photographer needs to know when to push, when to seek just a little bit more to create the shot of the session.
Sometimes it happens early in the session and sometimes it happens at the end.
Push that envelope and you’ll be rewarded more times than you think.

This image was near the beginning of the session.
The subject looks okay, but she is tight and isn’t revealing too much of her real self, just posing for the camera.
This is when the photographer really needs to help the subject.
Coaxing a great performance takes experience and intuition.
You don’t want to shut your subject down, and you don’t want to leave anything out.

The song, “I Whip My Hair Back and Forth,” was still out when I was doing this session and I noticed how great the light looked shinning through this subject’s blonde locks.
I suggested we try whipping her hair around and trying to capture the light just right.
She got very excited and started whipping her hair around and I ended up with this image.
It’s very cool and made the rounds on Facebook, but it really wasn’t the image that I was after for a great portrait.
But, my subject was super relaxed and stopped posing and started revealing more of who she in front of the camera.
Now she may have just been dizzy, but I also attribute it to getting her to this point by helping forget about posing and start being real.

Here’s the final image that all the preceding ones, lead up to.
Not a lot of posing, just a very revealing shot that shows a look of confidence that you only have at 17.
Work your subjects.
Lead them on the journey that you want and make some great images.
Be inspired!

Michael worked as a photojournalist in southern California for 20 plus years and has taught photojournalism at UCLA. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA where he teaches photography. He is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now!”
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