Portrait photography is the communication of your personality in your appearance. This is influenced by three things: the location of the shoot, the clothes that you wear and how you interact with the camera.
Environmental portraits tell the story of who you are and what you are doing in a single image. These can be taken candidly so the where you are and what you are wearing just happen by chance but it does not have to be this way.
Together we can think of a location that is significant to you or what you want to say about yourself. For example if you would like a picture of your son, and his thing at the moment is skateboarding then if the picture was taken where he skateboards then the picture captures a moment in time. Your son at this age doing what he loves. The picture says much more than, this is your son at age 11.
Similarly a corporate portrait needs to say something about your company. For example a company like Leisure Support Services provide maintenance and security for different sporting venues. Using these venues as the location for the shoot made the resulting pictures instantly recognizable to people while at the same time making reference to what they do.
The location of a family portrait needs to be somewhere that is personal to you. This will give the picture a weight and significance that only you will know. If it’s an outdoor location such as a favorite park or by the seaside then the portrait session becomes an experience and the pictures will capture a moment in time.
Rightly or wrongly people are judged by their appearances. Similarly the clothes that you wear for your portrait can make or break the picture. Let us return to the picture of your son by his skateboard ramp. If he is wearing brightly coloured, baggy sports clothes then what he is wearing gives an explanation to where he is standing. His clothes do not have to be complete with their normal dirt and rips, when he comes home but they must be clothes that will make the picture believable. If he was wearing a suit then it would be quite a surprise to see an 11 year old dressed like this but it would also make an incongruous image. A strange dichotomy between the boy in the suit and the skate park. This might be a picture that you would like to take in 15 years time but as a portrait of your young son you want his clothes and the location to tell the story of his interests at this age.
The same thing is true for corporate portraits. Returning to the pictures for Leisure Support Services. They do provide maintenance and cleaning at different sporting venues so I could have asked them to dress in boiler suits. However the resulting pictures would not have made them look like a trustworthy, professional company. You do not have to wear a suit for a corporate portrait but as a first impression a suit provides a professional feeling.
To drive this point home I would like to talk about a family portrait. If the portrait was taken by the sea I would expect you to be wearing different clothes and shoes to a portrait taken at the Ritz Hotel. What I am trying to say is that the choice of clothes that you make for a particular location should be the same clothes that you would normally wear. As a group it will give a sense of unity to the picture if you all wear similar clothes. This can be as subtle as everyone wearing jean. If everyone is dressed identically then you can loose the different personalities.
So two thirds of the picture has been agreed. The final consideration, which is the only thing that will haven on the day of the shoot, is how you interact with the camera. This sounds like something that you have to do but it isn’t. This is the photographers responsibility. He will explain to you what he would like you to do in a given space and all you have to do is enjoy it. A photographer can not make you have fun and he can not make you smile. He can help you to relax in front of the camera but the genuine smile has to come from you. If you have enjoyed your portrait session then you will be pleased with the pictures.
So just remember that on the day of your shoot two thirds of the work has already been done. All the decisions about what you will wear and where we will take the picture have been agreed so all you need to do is enjoy the experience.
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