Making Portraits

I had a chance to put into action something I was teaching my photo students about the other day.
Connecting with your subjects.
Without that connection, your portraits are one dimensional, flat and lifeless.
With that connection, there’s a spark a twinkle in the eye that gives life to your portraits.
Today I was photographing 13 seniors.
High school seniors.
Fortunately for me, they were all super incredible kids.
No attitudes or drama at all.
Near the end, I made a quick portrait of each of the students.
The light was fading very fast, so I literally had about 30 seconds with each of them
My style is to just talk.
I direct them and wait for that magical moment when it all gels and that’s when I’m able to see a part of the real person that I’m trying to photograph.
The first image is a a young guy that I just recently photographed for his senior portraits.
He quickly and comfortably moved into a pose that showed confidence and I was able to make a great portrait in about two frames.

This next portrait was of a girl that I hadn’t met before today.
She was a bit shy as a lot of young girls can be, but I noticed she had a great ring.
I asked her to straighten her hair with that hand.
It helped her to concentrate on something other than the camera and I told her not to smile and that’s when I got this great 1000 watt smile.
Her eyes lit up and I had my portrait!

The last portrait was the birthday girl.
Some people are born knowing how to pose.
This was is one of those rare individuals!
But, I asked her to include her hands in the image, as did all the other portraits.
She came up with this pose and I was done.
Remember, connection with your subject is key. Relax, concentrate and make some nice portraits.
Be inspired!