Now, over the past couple of years, I've learned more
about photographing people than any other time.
So in this video, I'm going to share my Top 5 Tips
for guaranteeing great portraits.
Okay.
So let me just quickly explain something.
This here is my first ever paid job as a portrait photographer.
Now, at the time, I was really pleased with it.
But looking back now, there's definitely something missing.
Look at these images here.
A tattooed guy and a tough guy.
Would you call these portraits or just photographs?
Now you see, I’d call them photographs,
not portraits, because again, there is something
vital missing ... connection.
They’re just stood there.
They might just as well have been a mannequin.
Look at their faces.
Are they looking at you or through you?
Look at this one here.
My great friend
Steven Cook, a four time world kickboxing champion.
Now, this photograph was taken shortly after we’d first met.
Is it a portrait or a photograph?
Again, look at his face. Look at his eyes.
Are they looking at you or through you?
But now compare it to this one ...
once we'd got to know each other.
Look at the eyes now. Big difference.
And that's because there's a connection.
So how do we get a connection?
Well, we need the person in front of the camera
to be relaxed and comfortable.
So here's my 5 Top Tips that'll help with that big time.
Now, I know there are times when a photo shoot is
literally minutes long, but this still applies.
When I was taking portraits of World War 2 veterans, my 39 -
45 portraits project we'd never met before
until the day of the photo shoot.
So my process was to turn up at their home, having
made sure they had a friend
or family member there with them too.
And I would leave all my kit in the car.
If they were anxious about being photographed,
seeing someone at the door laden down with kit wouldn't help.
So leaving my kit in the car, I'd knock on the door,
be invited in,
and then we'd sit and chat whilst having a tea or coffee.
This chat could last 30 minutes or maybe a little longer.
But eventually, when I felt we were getting on,
there was some laughter
and we both had relaxed in each other's company,
then I could say something like, “I tell you what, let's
go and get the kit from the car.
Let's get the portrait done as it’ll only take a few minutes
and we can have another brew”.
And this is where Tip 2 comes in.
So one thing I'd found that
if I'd spent time talking to people before the photo shoot
to help them to get relaxed,
if I held the camera to my eye and covered my face,
that seemed to make the person I was
photographing start to feel anxious again.
Instead, what I found best was to have my camera on a tripod.
And once I had the composition right,
have my head above or to the side of the camera.
That way I can maintain the eye contact
and keep the conversation going.
Keeping my voice calm, slowing down and relaxed.
Now there's a famous principle about behavior
called Betaris Box, and it goes like this.
My attitude affects my behavior,
affects your attitude and affects your behavior.
So if I'm tense, rushing and all go, go, go,
that's going to affect the person
I'm photographing and make them tense ...
make sense?
Now, one thing I discovered that really surprised me
was that some people look great looking at the camera,
but some people look great looking past the camera.
Trouble is, you don't know who.
So one thing I always do is this ...
If I'm photographing you,
I've already taken one photograph of you
looking straight down the lens,
then I'll say something like “Alright,
so now I'm going to kind of
move my hand around in like a clock face rotation,
and all I want you to do is just turn your eyes
and your face towards my hand.” So I'll start here
and say “Alright.
So rather than looking at my hand,
try to look through my fingers, try to see what's behind”,
then I'll go lower and then lower again.
I'll then repeat this on the other side.
Now it's really important that you say,
Look through my fingers,
because if you say, Look at my hand,
you get the 1000 yard stare where the eyes are open,
but there's just no life.
When you say try to look through my fingers,
it makes them squint ever so slightly,
which adds life into the eyes.
Now, I know lots of photographers
that would never show the pictures that they're taking
to the person that they're photographing
during the photo shoot.
They’d never want them to see them until they were edited.
But I'm going to suggest you try something different.
What I used to do was this ...
When taking the portraits,
I always shoot tethered and I would stop, get my laptop
and turn it to them and say something
like, “You look amazing.” Now, if you say that to a model,
they will love you, but if you say that to somebody
in front of the camera who's already
feeling conscious of themselves, this will make it even worse.
I've never in all the time I tried that had somebody agree
with me. I'd always get those ...
I never liked photos of myself comments,
so I stopped doing that, I still stop,
I turn the laptop around to show them the photograph.
But instead of complimenting them, I say something like,
“I'm really happy with the lighting in these”.
So instead I'm complimenting what I'm doing
and not complimenting them,
and people generally want to please you, so if they find the
what you're doing is making you really happy,
they seem to be more inclined
and happy to sit in front of the camera.
They're not the focus.
They don't feel that they're being judged.
You're more interested in the lighting
and in the background, and because of that,
that relaxes them.
Okay, final tip, Tip 5.
Now, this is a BIGGIE.
Now, talking is important, but listening even more so
because you could gain vital information that could
potentially change how you approach the photoshoot.
For example, a few years back I went to photograph a 99 year
old World War 2 veteran called John Sleep.
But when sitting and talking with him over a cup of tea,
it seemed like John was close to tears.
He explained to me that it was because he'd suffered with PTSD,
post traumatic stress disorder all of his life
because of something that happened
during the war almost 80 years ago.
“And he looked down at them and shook his head and
and he walked off.
It was my cue to walk off.”Now,
hearing this made me change
everything about the lighting in John's portrait.
Whereas before, I'd used a flash,
I didn't know how that was going to make him react.
So I used a video light, a daylight balanced,
constant video light, but I also turned on
silent shutter in the camera and used a cable release.
So when we were doing the pictures,
I just got John to talk about
the training that he went through to become
a member of the Parachute Regiment.
And whilst he was talking,
I was taking photographs, but he didn't know this
because there was no flash going off.
There was no click of the shutter.
And he didn't see my finger, press the shutter button ...
and it worked a treat.
And I left John with a feeling that he'd had a pleasant
experience, all because of listening.
So there you go. My Top 5 Tips.
Slow down, Talk more, take less photographs.
Maintain eye contact, Look at and past the camera.
Complement what you are doing.
Don't compliment them, and Listen.
Portrait Photography has very little to do with kit,
but everything to do with people skills.
Oh, and one more thing.
If you don't know what to talk about,
just imagine that the person in front of you has four letters
on their forehead ...
M.M.F.I. ...
Make Me Feel Important.
Talk about them family, jobs, hobbies, whatever.
Just talk about them.
Right that's all for this video
so I really hope that's been useful.
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But for now, that's me. I'm done.
I'll see you in the next video.