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Q. Portraits- what do you tell the model
Asked by Cole Barash
(K=1) on 4/13/2004
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Alright I love shooting portraits and I am sure everyone does them a little different. When you are shooting just a face shot you do not want the model to looked posed. So what do you do? What do you tell them? Do you tell them do look here and then there or do you carry on a conversation with them?
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al shaikh
(K=15790) - Comment Date 4/13/2004
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Mike George
(K=3429) - Comment Date 4/13/2004
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Some of both generally. Often I will give them a senerio, like what was your first date with______ like? Sometimes I just tell them to think about their first date, the day their kid was born, whatever type of mood or look I was hoping for. Sometimes I have to give more specific requests to them. More smile, less teeth, look at ________, to get the shot I want.
Over the years I made scrapbook of sorts. It has photos from magazines, my shots, sketches and so on of poses/looks. If I am trying for something, I can often open the scrapbook and find a similiar pose/look I want and show that to the subject. Often, this helps them to duplicate it. Also if they are wanting portraits for them, they can give me an idea of what they are looking for using the ideas in the scrapbook.
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Jonathan Wollin
(K=958) - Comment Date 4/22/2004
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I shot lots and lots of high school senior portraits and I talk with them about plans for their summer what summer job they'll have. What they like most about H.S. What movies they just saw. Then after all that ask questions as to what they are looking to get from you.
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Peter Witkop
(K=3189) - Comment Date 4/22/2004
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My strategy is to pose the model, get the right head position, body postion, etc., and keep a conversation going with the model. Then I'm split between watching the model for the right expresion, watching all the lights are firing, my exposure's right, it's best if these things become second nature. At the same time keep a connection with the model, don't let their focus shift from you too much, if at all. Steer the conversation towards things that make them seem to relax, smile and laugh naturally. My goal when I'm shooting a portait is to get the model to not think about the camera; the experience for them should be that of having a relaxed conversation with me. Ussually the better I do at that, the easier the shoot goes for the model, and the harder I'm working.
Peter
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