Photo of the Week - Week 11

One of the hardest things in portrait photography (for me) is to get natural expressions. As I've mentioned before, portrait photography, particularly in the studio, is one of the most UNnatural things people can do. This means that it's hard to get people to relax and be natural; one of the reasons I like environmental portraits better - easier to get people to relax and be natural.

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to get people to relax is to get them to laugh. This helps lighten the atmosphere and people will naturally relax. Easier with kids than adults and much easier said than done ...

Clara is just a natural - she's grown up with me chasing her with a camera stuck to my face and she does great in front of the camera.

I've shot a few engagement sessions, but this is one of my favorites. Engaged couples are great to shoot because after a bit they just forget you're there and are oblivious to anyone but each other. Makes life easy for a photographer!

Even adults will relax and you can get some good natural portraits. When I do my portrait sessions I block aside at least an hour. The first bit is mainly for us to get used to me having a camera stuck to my face, we'll shoot some test shots, we do a lot of interactive, I'll show them the pictures after each shot, let the kids take a picture of mom and dad, etc. This helps build rapport between me and the people I'm photographing and everyone relaxes, enjoys the photo shoot more, and we get better images.