do you pose or document portraits?

[Tom Nutter]

I want some opinions on portrait photography and your approach to the sitter. Do you actively and meticulously pose you subjects or approach it more like a documentary and wait for something to happen?

 

[vdonovan]

I think I am in between. I shoot portraits using a portable studio that I take on site. I adjust the lighting and the position of the person to their best advantage--for example if someone has a double chin, I ask them to tilt their head up. If they are slouching I ask them to sit up and put their shoulders back.

Then I try to make something happen. I talk to the person to try to get them to relax. I will ask them to imagine they are on vacation in their favorite place, or that their dog has just come and jumped in their lap.

Once, while taking portraits at a school for people with disabilities, I had the students stand behind me while I was shooting the teachers. I told the teachers not to laugh and I told the students to try to get the teachers TO laugh. It was a lot of fun and I got some great expressions.

 

[Pinholemaster]

Whatever works for the situation, so I use both methods depending on the person I'm photographing.

 

[Cheryl Jacobs]

It completely depends on the situation and what I'm trying to get from the sitter. More often than not, though, my approach is to get the sitter involved in a conversation so I can (subtly) observe his/her natural body language. When they do something that works, I "pause" them gently and, if necessary, adjust anything that's not working. Then I can concentrate on my connection with the sitter, releasing the shutter when I see what I'm after. They key for most of my portraits is for the sitter not to notice or care how I am working. It should feel like a normal conversation. I don't want them focusing on the fact that they're being photographed.

- CJ