background are more sophisticated, I may use a ring-light or the diamond spotlight to produce a more glamorous look. Lighting techniques will be covered in greater detail in chapter 4. Posing. Another consideration is the pose. When I select a pose I am looking at two things. First, I want to choose a pose that coordinates with everything else I have selected so far. Second—and even more importantly—I want to choose a pose that will make the client look their best. Posing techniques will be covered in greater detail in chapter 5. Expression. The final step is the subject’s expression. You can be the best photographer in the world—you can be a wizard at lighting and posing, making every client Expressions sell portraits.
BE FLEXIBLE
look beautiful—but without a great expression, your im-
Although I make many decisions before I see the client in
ages won’t sell. It’s important to keep in mind that “a
their outfit, I am always ready to make changes once the
great expression” means “the expression your client
client appears. For example, I may have everything set for
wants,” not “the expression you think they should have.”
a full-length standing pose to show off an elegant dress—
Photographers, especially male photographers, often think
until the senior comes out barefoot and says she forget
every attractive woman between the age of thirteen and
her shoes. Then we go to plan B, which would be simply
thirty should have glossy lips that are parted just enough
to take the image in a three-quarter pose and not show
to see the teeth. While this expression might look alluring,
the feet. Many photographers lack flexibility when working with their clients. Many years ago, I observed a photographer
it is not how I would want to see my daughter looking at me in a portrait. Parents buy smiles—smiles that make their child look
working with a client in an outdoor location. His client was a young lady, a few years out of high school, who was in a dark shirt and black jeans with black shoes. When she sat down on a rock by the lake, her pant leg rose to show
like they are really happy, not just as though they were to told to smile. Seniors and teens do like the more alluring smiles noted in the previous paragraph, but they also like
her white socks underneath. She asked the photographer
natural smiles. I have never seen a woman I couldn’t get
if her white socks were going to show, and he responded,
to smile naturally—and I have only had a few guys in my
“Of course they’re going to show. If you didn’t want to see
twenty-five year career who refused to smile once they
them, you shouldn’t have worn them!” He then proceeded
understood that they would be selecting the images and
to take the shots full length—almost as if to teach his
didn’t have to pick the smiling poses if they looked bad.
client a lesson. (And I’m sure he did teach his client a les-
Understanding human nature also helps. You can’t look
son—namely, that he was a jerk and she should have se-
at another human being with a smile on their face and not
lected a more professional photographer.)
want to smile yourself. The old saying that smiles are con-
This guy could have easily asked her to take off her shoes and socks, or he could have changed the composition to not show the feet, but he was inflexible. Once he had decided on what he was doing, he wouldn’t change it to fit the needs of the client. (I should note that he also paid the price that all arrogant photographers pay; he is now fifty years old and still working for his father.)
tagious is very true. Combine a smile on your face with a upbeat tone and a humorous play on words and no one can help but smile—and often laugh.