One of my photo groups has bi-weekly assignments. Our last assignment was portraiture, and since I work in a studio (Japan Camera) I offered an informal talk on posing and capturing a subjects personality. The talk was very well received, and I got some great feedback. I think all of the attendees learned something.
As a teacher/leader, I also learned a lot. Not least of which is the fact that it is hard to work around distractions… 😉
I also confirmed a few things about my style of photography. I do like to be in control. I tend to “assess{{1}}” the subject and previsualize an image. I then work with the subject to create this image. In a real session, this previsualized image may not work, or the subject may want something different. In that case I modify my approach to accommodate, but I am still previsualizing the new image.
The teaching point I am trying to make is that when you approach a subject you want to photograph, whether it is a person, a landscape, or an old derelict truck, build an image in your head first, then try to recreate that with your camera.
And I think this is my favourite photo I took that evening:
[[1]]Of course everyone has many facets of a personality, and can be representative of many more. The trick is to choose just the parts of the personality that you (or your subject) want to show through, then choose lighting, background, posing, etc to emphasize that personality.[[1]]
