Don’t Look Away

From the viewfinder. That’s my learning to share and to reinforce in my own mind. All too often when I am taking portraits with someone who is not used to being in front of a camera (in a non-selfie situation), a good deal of time is spent trying to relax them, and have them look natural even though they are posing. People aren’t comfortable posing, thats why models are models and the really good ones get paid really good money – they can pose, look natural, and do it (seemingly) effortlessly. Ditto with photographers: those who can put people immediately at ease are worth their weight in Marketing Budget gold!

When you’re behind the camera, how often have you seen your subject suddenly go from ”posed” to ”natural” the moment they think the shooting is done? Don’t look away! Some of the best shots I get tend to be when the angst and discomfort of the moment vanish but I still have my finger on the shutter button. Those in-between moments are the ones that wind up on LinkedIn, websites, social media sites and the multitude of dating platforms. Just people being themselves in a way that is not staged – and it is a beautiful thing to behold.

”I love this one!” is music to my ears. Happy client, happy photographer.

The scattergun, rapid fire approach may help catch the subtle look we’re after at times but I’m half convinced that taking a few posed shots and calling ”time out” to ”check what we’ve got” will yield more keepers if we just keep shooting. While I may only be worth my weight in {insert self-deprecating material of your choice here} I still manage to strike gold now and then. Below are a few pics in a sequence I was shooting for a LinkedIn profile. I’ll give you one guess which one is now her profile picture.