Hi Bruce: Wow, this really helps and is excellent advice. And about the tighter shots: As a general principle, I do appreciate this point & think it important, but sense of place is very important to me & when I think of people, I think of them as part of some place, maybe only for brief periods or maybe deeply rooted. At one point, Anne said to me that she was so excited to have photos done with a hint of her home in the background. Granted, some of the shots had busy backgrounds, but I'll get better at not doing that (hopefully). Sense of place is really important to me.
Big cheers, Christine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bruce Dayton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 2:10 PM Subject: Re: GESO: Anne > Hello Christine, > > You have really hit on it. Portrait work can be very difficult > because you have to produce something, not just record something. > The latter is more about timing and finding the right situation. The > former is first and foremost about attitude. > > What happens with portraits is the feeling of the subject really > comes through. If the they are feeling a bit shy or timid, it shows. > Your job is to somehow bring the inner self out and have the person > really show something. It usually means getting them to be very > comfortable - talking and maybe laughing if it is to be a happy > portrait. Once things are comfortable, you just shoot away without > changing the feeling - don't stop and say "now we are going to > shoot" - you just shoot as you continue your talking. It has to be > a fun, enjoyable thing for both of you to have the most successful > portraits. > > It is also easier, I think, to start with a tighter shot - not so > much worry about the background. As the session unfolds, and things > are working, then you can introduce more backgrounds and poses. > > I hope I'm making sense. > > -- > Best regards, > Bruce > > > Thursday, June 12, 2008, 8:56:23 PM, you wrote: > > > CA> ----- Original Message ----- > CA> From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > CA> To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]> > CA> Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:45 PM > CA> Subject: Re: GESO: Anne > > >>> Hi Christine, >>> Think about what you want and do it again. >>> Paul > > CA> Well, there's the rub! You know, when you're out on the street or at > a > CA> public event, you begin to watch, unnoticed by others, human drama in > CA> action, and you begin to sense there's a picture coming, & before you > know > CA> it the camera is to the left of your nose, & you're looking through > the view > CA> finder & there it is. > > CA> How different portrait shoots are! There you are, your lovely subject > is > CA> before, staring at you as if saying, "well, what do you want me to > do?" And > CA> there you are (or rather, there I was), probably looking perplexed, > CA> wondering, how do I make magic here? How do I get the true spirit of > this > CA> lovely subject to reveal itself? Frankly, I find it all a bit > daunting--but > CA> to paraphrase the great Eleanor Roosevelt, do what you fear! > > CA> Thanks for the tips, Paul. > > CA> Cheers, Christine > > > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
