For this chapter, I would like to give a 'snapshot' of my views, for what it's worth, on portrait photography.
Primarily, I would not consider myself not to be a good people portrait person and I am fully aware it does show in my portrait shots.
In all my years as a salesperson, I never seemed to have any problem in asserting myself on a one-to-one basis as far as customer relations is concerned, but I certainly seemed to have acquired an acute lack of confidence in photographing people with the same assertiveness (although my confidence levels have improved no end since writing this).
One really needs to be in full control of the situation, but certainly not to the point of being aggressive. You must learn to adopt an assertive, but an empathetic manner and you must know implicitly and be fully familiar with all of your equipment.
You cannot be seen, in the eyes of your sitter, to fumble or misuse your equipment. They will need to have your complete trust and the manner in which you conduct yourself reassures them. Or not!
So, without question, you should have absolute prior knowledge of the equipment you will use and the type of shots you will be taking, and have most of your equipment fully set up and ready to go before any shooting takes place. To be a professional, you must show professionalism.
Consequently, through knowing my limitations, I have not yet set myself up with any proper portrait gear, apart from the odd reflector, bounce flash and slave flash. I may have to get more serious practice in on the grandchildren.
The portrait photographer, in my eyes, needs to be a Jack-of-all-trades in the photographic world. They need to have the ability to fully capture a person's character and personality and be conversant with the proper make-up, hair, wardrobe, props, etc.
A good portrait photographer needs also to have the ability to put the sitter completely at ease and a certain rapport must be created and maintained between photographer and sitter. Otherwise, it could mean the decampment of the sitter and ultimately, through word-of-mouth, the failure of your business.
Lastly, but by no means least, a good portrait photographer needs to have a very broad knowledge in relation to the technicalities of lighting, indoor and out, natural or artificial. But that's another story!
Sounds daunting, doesn't it? But if your desire is to become a portrait photographer, please take heed of all these things and much, much more.
