Reply To: Am I??

[lolz]

A couple of things. I agree with Carmen, there’s some little things you can improve on, but as a whole, it’s not horrible so, no, not really a faux.

1) Fix attire. Wrinkles in shirts, posture, etc., all contribute to the appeal of a portrait. See things in frame before you shoot.

2) Edit. I know some photographers want to charge extra for editing, but I don’t believe in it, and I will tell you why; it makes you look better when your clients look better. Don’t over-edit the hell of of a photo, but smooth skin tones, check your white balances, whiten teeth, smooth lines, etc. It just gives potential clients all the more reason to call you, and quite honestly, that’s why you post pics, to draw new clients.

3) I try not to let my backgrounds play too big of a part in my portrait photography. Why? Because it distracts from your focal point, your client. There’s nothing particularly appealing about a gravel road, or the timber in the background. Frame your shot with some background, but not so much as to be distracting.

 

Basically, try to see your shot as you are taking it. Make a mental checklist before you take every single shot, and before you know it, you do it every time automatically. I do a rundown like this, clothing, posture (head tilt, hip sling, arms, feet), background, white areas, and then go. After your first shot, check in-camera, make sure it looks like you imagined, if it doesn’t fix it, if it does, then go to different positions.

 

I will say though, I don’t particularly pose, I observe interactions and personalities, then ask them to do things, and take photographs of that.