I used to believe that taking a portrait of someone was easy. Ha! I was a pumped-up photojournalist battling with hard core news and extreme situations. Back then, taking a meager portrait of someone's face seemed so simple. Who knew that fifteen years down the line, I'd be running a portrait studio called Sandprints, in a sweet California town — Morro Bay.
I've tackled many different kinds of photography over my career. I started as a newspaper photojournalist in the States, Costa Rica, and London. I also dabbled in Paparazzi in London (where I'm from), then moved on to high-end British weddings and portraits. From photographing a portrait of Madeleine Albright to catching Madonna at her worst — and a few even more interesting faces in-between — I've had my fair share of challenging moments.
Sometimes, I had to take pictures of people who didn't want to be photographed and that was painful. Brutal, even. The parents of a two-year old sexual abuse victim. Imagine that. The mother of a girl who was murdered and mutilated. "Why photograph them?" I would often ask. Finally I drew the line and moved onto greener pastures.
Looking for Shells
Doing His Own Thing
Walking the Beach
The Light Behind Me
Show His True Nature
Surprise!
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I love taking portraits. I love how people's faces are different from one another, how one minute changes a face entirely into something new. I love the connection you get when photographing someone intimately. The trust they bestow upon you is a great honor, as clichéd as that sounds. So many people have quiet concerns about how they look. They secretly long to look their very best in pictures. I need to get their guard down to show the real them. Only then can a truly great portrait be captured. This gets even more complicated when photographing a family unit. And boy, aren't families fascinating!
These days, instead of imposing myself and my camera in a tragic situation, my challenges lie in keeping everyone happy and having fun whilst still getting that quintessential 'perfect portrait.' I need to balance a family's desire to look attractive, happy, and fun, with my own desire to take an unusual portrait which they will treasure for years. They don't know it yet, but I'm capturing a moment in time. Their children are growing so fast they can barely see it, but it's happening right in front of their eyes.
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Often, it is the everyday moments which create the best portraits. They show someone's true character, like my own child reaching for the mail. Many people just want something they can frame on the wall, a smiling picture where everyone looks good. This is an entirely different challenge. Orchestrated smiles quickly look fake. So, I act like a total fool just so they will relax and enjoy themselves. I'm quite accustomed to moo-ing like a cow, or jumping up and down like an ape. It's hard for even a teenager to keep a straight face when I do that.
My favorite thing to do, however, is just ask a family to move from one spot to another, and while they are doing their own thing that's when I capture that moment which shows who they are. I may even pretend I have to change a lens or something just so they will stop parading for my camera, and start doing something real like looking at shells.
Family Fun and Smiles
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Make Them Laugh
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Many local photographers are phenomenal wildlife photographers, but rarely photograph people. They find people too complicated, or say they 'don't know how' to take a portrait. I say, grab your camera and go photograph someone you love. Here's a hit list of how to do it:
- Have fun. Seriously. If you are having fun, they'll have fun and actually want to let you photograph them rather than shoo you away.
- Walk around your subject. Don't just photograph their face. Who says a portrait has to have eyes?
- Do not issue any instructions. It immediately stiffens the subject. If you want to change the background, move yourself. A stunning portrait can be made anywhere, even standing beside trash cans. Dip down to your knees and use the sky as a backdrop, or go close on the face. Where there is magic light, there is a magic portrait to be made. If you are at the beach at sunset, don't forget to look behind you. Sometimes the glow of sunset is far more appealing than the sunset itself!
- Never ever, ever say, "Say Cheese." If you want them to smile, say something funny! Bark, meow, cock-a-doodle doo if you have to. Fall over. Jump. Burp. Attack yourself with your own hand. Whatever it takes. Be a total idiot. The more idiotic, the better. And if you surprise your subject by your stupidity, so be it. When you show your foolish side, you unconsciously give them permission to do the same.
- Boring but useful: Use your eyes and make the background clutter-free by changing your angle. Choose your location and time of day carefully – the golden hour after sunrise and before sunset being preferable to all other times of day. If you must shoot at midday, use your flash to fill in the shadows.
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Jump
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Finally, the key to all portraiture, in my opinion, is love. Find something you love about the people you are photographing and let it show. Perhaps it's in looking for something that you love about them, that you are actually trying to see them, which creates the better picture. Perhaps it's just the simple act of loving fellow mankind which enables a better picture. Try it, see for yourself.
Catch Passing Expressions
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Ginger Snaps
Please send any specific camera or photography questions to Ginger. Answers will be published next month.
