My role as a portrait photographer is to engage the subject. Elicit an expression. Then capture it. Yes, all of the other stuff is important, but that is the heart of the matter.
The lighting, exposure and composition are worth nothing if you don’t get the expression you and the customer want. You can learn the technical part from a book, website, class or even a brief seminar. It takes time and effort to learn how to consistently get good expressions from a wide variety of subjects.
I never tell a subject to smile or look at the camera. Even without classical training most photographers learn to avoid those specific instructions because of the bad results it frequently gets. When something works poorly often enough, we avoid doing it.
Sometimes I am asked what “tricks” I use, what toys I use or what words I tell children to say. This is missing the whole point of engaging the subject and getting them to relax. Yes, some of what I do can be considered tricks and I usually have a stuffed animal. But they are just tools for engaging the subject. A rolled up pair of socks works just as well as the stuffed animal.
Recently a photographer asked me, “What do you say to a four year old?” Like any conversation with a person, I usually start by asking their name and what I say next will depend upon their reaction. You will make mistakes in your relationship with the subject and you will recover from those mistakes, sometimes. That is how you learn.
You have to develop your own style. You are not me. You cannot copy me.
The girl featured with this post is looking towards the camera but she is focused on the photographer. I usually work with the camera on a tripod and a remote trigger in my hand. I don’t remember this specific sitting but I assume that I am moving back and forth from arranging the subject to checking the framing or composition on the camera. I actually captured the expressions I wanted at times when I was directly behind the camera.
This is what I usually try to get; relaxed, engaged expressions in poses that will stand the test of time. These are portraits she won’t be embarrassed to show it to anybody. Her parents can give them to her grandparents and she can give them to her grandchildren.