Portraits Are People Too

Portrait can be a loose term. Is ANY photo of a person a portrait? For all you literalists, here is the definition on Dictionary.com.

I think that photographically speaking, a portrait is any image where the person is the main point of interest in the photo and the subject knows he/she is being photographed. If they are unaware, it becomes a candid or street photograph. That line is easily blurred (and arbitrary at that) but I think it's an important distinction for the photographer in one respect--candid is easier. It's much easier to catch a subject doing something interesting when they don't know a camera is around. As soon as people see a camera pointed at them, they get all stupid and awkward. This shifts the burden almost fully to the photographer to work with the person in order to create an interesting image. Both types of photography are lots of fun and perfectly acceptable, just know that as soon as that person sees you, it is left up to you to make a portrait.

The Rules:
I would really say that I only have one: If the subject is making eye contact with the camera, the eyes should be focused. That's it, and it's really just a rule I've imposed on myself after a lot of attempts to the contrary. I simply can't think of a single time in 500,000 images that it worked so I've decided to make it a rule. The rest are just helpful techniques, the goal being to create an image that tells a story of that individual, their relationship to the world, and your vision as a photographer.

So here are a few things to think about.

1. The eyes
The eyes are important, they really ARE the window to the soul. You certainly don't have to have the eyes in the frame or in focus, just make sure that you know WHY you don't have them there. One of my favorite portraits ever is a LIFE Magazine image of Marlene Dietrich by Milton Greene in 1952. Greene wanted to turn the person into a pair of legs that have a life of their own.

The second example is a wonderful street portrait of a young boy with a patch over one eye made by Vivian Maier. It's impossible to know what she meant to do but by having eye with the patch lit and the good one obscured by shadow, she created an image that has continued to fascinate me because you simply don't see a single eye, even though you know he's looking right at you. I feel like he should have some sort of mystical powers.

Remember that the main technique that gives a person that spark of humanity and really engages you with someone is the spark in their eyes known as a catchlight. A catchlight is a reflection of something in the eyes of the subject. It can be sky, flash, building, whatever is reflective--the bigger the better. The image below has a reflection of the window creating a great catchlight. It adds life and vitality to a portrait.

2. Lighting
Softer is more flattering. The harshness of the light is related to the size and material of the light source. The sun is a teeny, tiny light source, therefore the shadows are deep and the transitions from light to dark are sharp and unflattering. A flash head is the same. In the next image, look at the sharp shadow to the left of her nose. This was lit by a single flash off to my right.

As a comparison, the image below is a very simple portrait shot using just a large window off to my left. You see no harsh shadow lines. It's much more forgiving of wrinkles and blemishes. You can also see that because the window light was not as strong the contrast between it and the ambient light filling the room is much lower, where above there was no ambient light leading to very strong contrast.

Remember that there is ALWAYS direction to light. On an overcast day, there will be stronger light coming from the sun, even when it's covered by clouds. It is more subtle but it's there. Overcast days usually mean nice, soft light, but also can make for odd color to skin tones.

Case in point is the portrait below, shot on an overcast day with light reflecting from many directions. The sun was above and behind her, hitting the back of her head, therefore it doesn't figure into the lighting scheme on her face. Another tip is when you are cropped in tight, adding the subjects hands do wonders in adding interest to the frame.

The next image was shot with one flash to my left in a 24 inch softbox, giving it a nice, large spread. The rim light down the subject's left side is the sun, low on the horizon where it's much more diffused by the atmosphere so it's not as powerful. It does a beautiful job of separating the subject from the background. His suit is a similar value to the background and would have been lost without the rim light. You can shoot a natural light portrait this same way but you'll have to expose for the ambient light which is much dimmer making the sunlight stronger in comparison.

3. Posing
This is where your vision as a photographer can really create a unique style. Do whatever you think will look interesting but here are a few things to keep in mind.

Watch where you frame. As a general rule, don't chop of a limb or a body at a joint or natural break. It feels like an amputation, the brain doesn't automatically assume that the limb continues! If you crop in the middle of a body structure, the brain assumes that the second half is there. So avoid cropping right at the wrists, elbows, waist, knees, and ankles.

If you want a comfortable expression, allow the subject to be comfortable. I know, it sounds obvious but the "best" angles don't look good on many people because they require uncomfortable twisting and turning of limbs. If  you want a formal portrait, use formal rules, if you want a relaxed, candid-feeling portrait, allow the subject to do what comes natural then make them hold it when you see something you like. Don't be afraid to ask them to do it again. We shot the image below 5 or 6 times to get things to come out right.

Don't be afraid to tell people what to do with themselves, unless they've modeled before, most people don't have a clue what to do in front of a camera. Make suggestions but allow for their personal preferences. If they're uncomfortable with large, demonstrative poses, they won't pull them off well, find a more sedate, comfortable place and focus more on their inner self.

Whatever you do, encourage people! Tell them they're doing a great job. It will relax them and they'll open up more to your vision and direction. People will do some pretty crazy stuff if they know they'll look good doing it!

Remember that there is always a little bit of perspective involved. If you want to minimize hips, have her shift her weight to the back foot, that will shift the hips away from the camera. It's subtle but it works.

Wide angle lenses typically create more depth while long lenses flatten depth. If a nose is prominent, flatten it a bit by shooting longer. For someone with a flatter, wider face, you can bring more depth by shooting wide.

I could go on forever but in the end, you have to get out there and shoot! Remember that while people resist getting their picture taken, if you're honest with them about your purpose, ask them politely, and smile, most people will let you practice your art! Here are a couple of images of random people I met for the first time through the lens.

Have a great time, I can promise, you'll never get bored shooting people!

If you want to look at incredible portrait and people photographers, here are some of the ones that inspire me:

Vivian Maier - Street photography
Richard Avedon - Fashion
Joe McNally - Editorial
Greg Gorman - Fine Art
Dan Winters - Portraiture