Portraits and Conversations

The following pictures are not edited for hanging on the wall. They are color balanced and that’s about it. The point of this blog entry is to discuss the psychology of a portrait. Many are farther ahead than I am when it comes to producing portraits. Many that I follow for inspiration are much farther ahead and may have more pearls of wisdom.

One of the pearls that I have heard stated over and over is that a portrait is many times a reflection of the relationship between the photographer and the subject. I think this is true, or at least part of it is true.

I have made many portraits that left me with the feeling that I missed something. I failed to connect enough with the subject so that they never really felt comfortable with me; and although the lighting and the pose may be technically correct, I could see something was missing in the finished product.

The “something” is most likely subjective, but that missing something was still visible to me. There are so many things to learn in order to become an accomplished photographer. The required list is long: F stops, aperture, shutter speed, post-processing, archiving, marketing, accounting, posing, flash, grip equipment, etc… And, oh yea, People Skills. Do you care enough about the person in front of the camera to engage them so they feel comfortable?

Well, fortunately for me, I cared enough for this little one to spend some time playing with her while I was attempting to make a portrait that we could hang on our Family Wall. It was much easier to care since she is one of my granddaughters.

I did not spend any time editing them other than color balancing and removing one blemish on her cheek. The point of the series of images is simply to show her expressions as we played games while the camera was snapping away.

Technical stuff:

The lighting setup was really simple. The main light was an Einstein flash inside of a 52” PLM with a diffusion cover. A Westcott Apollo that contained a Lumedyne head was positioned to the camera right to put some light on the hair. I was in too much of a hurry to set up my boom that morning.

The pictures simply represent an ongoing conversation and her reactions as we competed making funny faces at each other.

Main LIght: Einstein Flash with 52” PLM , Hair LIght: 28” Appollo withh 1 Lumedyne Head

Main LIght: Einstein Flash with 52” PLM , Hair LIght: 28” Appollo withh 1 Lumedyne Head

Main LIght: Einstein Flash with 52” PLM , Hair LIght: 28” Appollo withh 1 Lumedyne Head

Main LIght: Einstein Flash with 52” PLM , Hair LIght: 28” Appollo withh 1 Lumedyne Head

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Portraits and Conversations