Portraits
Working with expression, light, and distance to photograph people well.
Portrait photography is as much about putting a subject at ease as it is about technical settings. A relaxed subject, photographed simply, often produces a stronger portrait than a tense subject photographed with more elaborate technique.
Eye contact and gaze
Where a subject looks changes the entire feeling of a portrait. Direct eye contact with the camera tends to feel confrontational or intimate, depending on expression; a gaze directed elsewhere often feels more contemplative or candid.
Distance changes intimacy
A close, tightly cropped portrait feels more intimate than a wider shot that includes more of the subject's environment. Both are valid choices — the decision should depend on whether the environment adds meaningful context or simply distracts.
Give directions, not instructions
Rather than instructing a subject to hold a specific pose, giving them something to do — look toward a window, think about something specific, walk toward you — often produces more natural results than a static, posed instruction.
