Something I find extremely helpful is to talk to the person before the shoot and ask if they have any features they would like me to highlight, if I'm doing a headshot or portrait. Often, this results in the person also sharing with me what they would like to have minimized, which helps me in the edit. I can see what they are self conscious about and can lean into the features they feel best about when shooting and editing. Additionally, it's important to me to photograph people of a different background from me, whether it's a subculture I'm not a part of, a different race, a different type of profession/industry... Having that diversity in my portfolio helps me come into a shoot feeling confident and shows people that I will be able to photograph them specifically. I received the tip "never remove anything in Photoshop that will still be there in 2 weeks" and that advice has helped me tremendously as well.
I'm a Melbourne portrait photographer, I've found heaps of great portrait photographers on Instagram that inspire my work and a great local network of models and photographers in Melbourne too.
I can't seem to find the same on here, or Bluesky…
Timely! I've been reflecting that the only photos I'm interested in taking of people are candids, and a good candid is very rewarding. An awesome candid is the best portrait. Getting them to ignore me is either about being sneaky (less fun) or getting them to be accustomed to me. That takes longer but gets the best results. For some people we're up against a lifetime of being told to "say cheese", i.e. pay attention to the camera.
Thank you for your "pearls of wisdom" Lucy. I was at a very warm and sunny farmers market in Fife, Scotland yesterday, and I took some photos with a small compact camera ( Olympus TG7), trying to capture the atmosphere of the market. From your advice, I now know I could have done that better by engaging more with the street food vendors and stall holders, rather than just snapping away from a distance. Something to put into practice next time. 😊👍🏼📸
as someone who has avoided photographing people altogether because of these exact problems, thank you for sharing the knowledge i need to be brave enough to approach this.
Something I find extremely helpful is to talk to the person before the shoot and ask if they have any features they would like me to highlight, if I'm doing a headshot or portrait. Often, this results in the person also sharing with me what they would like to have minimized, which helps me in the edit. I can see what they are self conscious about and can lean into the features they feel best about when shooting and editing. Additionally, it's important to me to photograph people of a different background from me, whether it's a subculture I'm not a part of, a different race, a different type of profession/industry... Having that diversity in my portfolio helps me come into a shoot feeling confident and shows people that I will be able to photograph them specifically. I received the tip "never remove anything in Photoshop that will still be there in 2 weeks" and that advice has helped me tremendously as well.
Gamechanging advice here Emma - you should put all of this into a substack on the subject!
Done! Thank you for the encouragement 😊 https://open.substack.com/pub/emmaontheinternet/p/how-to-take-better-pictures-of-people?r=9p4k7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
i love this advice, also worth mentioning that hands really tell their own story, so getting people to 'activate' them in a shoot will always pay off
The top is a great photo
Thank you - my partner took it. I'm so lucky to have him!
Great advice, thank you!
You're so welcome - I'm glad to hear it was helpful :)
I love this!!! I’ve been getting into photographing people more. Your timing on this is perfect for me. Thank you!
That's so good to hear Tim! I hope it's something you can come back to for tips. Thanks for reading :)
I will be using this as a reference all the time!!! This is awesome.
I'm a Melbourne portrait photographer, I've found heaps of great portrait photographers on Instagram that inspire my work and a great local network of models and photographers in Melbourne too.
I can't seem to find the same on here, or Bluesky…
Timely! I've been reflecting that the only photos I'm interested in taking of people are candids, and a good candid is very rewarding. An awesome candid is the best portrait. Getting them to ignore me is either about being sneaky (less fun) or getting them to be accustomed to me. That takes longer but gets the best results. For some people we're up against a lifetime of being told to "say cheese", i.e. pay attention to the camera.
Thank you for your "pearls of wisdom" Lucy. I was at a very warm and sunny farmers market in Fife, Scotland yesterday, and I took some photos with a small compact camera ( Olympus TG7), trying to capture the atmosphere of the market. From your advice, I now know I could have done that better by engaging more with the street food vendors and stall holders, rather than just snapping away from a distance. Something to put into practice next time. 😊👍🏼📸
I needed this
this is a gold mine of tips.
as someone who has avoided photographing people altogether because of these exact problems, thank you for sharing the knowledge i need to be brave enough to approach this.