The Story In A Face 2
Recently I was talking to some of my students about the importance of story in portraiture.
The challenge is not the technicalities, what f-stop, shutter speed, flash power, etc to use.
Yes, you have to master those, and many other technical elements, you have to know them so well that you can forget them and focus of the really important aspect of crafting impactive portraits.
Connection. That is the real challenge.
Connecting with the subject is the collaboration that yields impactive meaningful portraits that go beyond simply documenting a likeness to sharing the story of that person.
The process for connecting with a subject is just a varied and different as are the subjects. To some it is taking time to let them get comfortable seeing their image on a monitor. For others it may be talking about their day or their expectation for the session. Maybe walking and talking about the location where we are shooting is the key to bridging that gap. In some cases I have let the subject play with the cameras and explore the process of crafting an image. Music almost always helps as does food and humor.
The techniques are varied but the results are usually worth the effort.
Here are few faces and their stories that I've had the privilege to get to know.
* WARNIG* Some viewers may find one of these portraits disturbing!
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you did please comment, like, and share.
Julian Ray
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The challenge is not the technicalities, what f-stop, shutter speed, flash power, etc to use.
Yes, you have to master those, and many other technical elements, you have to know them so well that you can forget them and focus of the really important aspect of crafting impactive portraits.
Connection. That is the real challenge.
Connecting with the subject is the collaboration that yields impactive meaningful portraits that go beyond simply documenting a likeness to sharing the story of that person.
The process for connecting with a subject is just a varied and different as are the subjects. To some it is taking time to let them get comfortable seeing their image on a monitor. For others it may be talking about their day or their expectation for the session. Maybe walking and talking about the location where we are shooting is the key to bridging that gap. In some cases I have let the subject play with the cameras and explore the process of crafting an image. Music almost always helps as does food and humor.
The techniques are varied but the results are usually worth the effort.
Here are few faces and their stories that I've had the privilege to get to know.
* WARNIG* Some viewers may find one of these portraits disturbing!
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you did please comment, like, and share.
Julian Ray
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