Comments on: Capturing Personality in Portraiture

By: C Edwards

C Edwards — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:00:20 +0000

Dear Mr. Larry Thomas:

Deliver me from such amteruish arrogrance as you! Sound advice indeed.

By: Larry Thomas

Larry Thomas — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:07:20 +0000

Your first “portrait” of the young lady is such a clumsy effort
that I would be embarrassed to even show it – much less to
present it as a “good” example of portraiture !!!

Her pose is unflattering and UN-graceful.
She’s lost in the busy-ness of the garden.
Her hand gesture to her face is awkward.
…and WHY a full-length photograph with a non-professional
model?

Deliver me from such amateurish arrogance as you!

By: sabira

sabira — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:23:14 +0000

Great advice, l’m not a talkative person but i’ll give it a try.

By: thatmanrobert

thatmanrobert — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:48:08 +0000

There is so much more in the picture by way of technique

eyes- around a 1/3 down from the top

head- cropped ,100% ok to do this

arm- raised to show the background,avoiding white shirt blob,and giving some indication of size

shoulders- different hights ,nearest always lowest

and above all depth of field seperating subject from background to stand out.These are all fundamentals which underpin the process here

By: murr

murr — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:00:33 +0000

Thanks for posting. I shoot portraits of only my friends so I can capture their spirit, and I’ve never known how to capture someone I don’t know. The example questions are terrific and will help, and make me think of many more. Maybe I’ll try to shoot someone whom I don’t really know, and get inside their soul.

By: jayvie

jayvie — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:52:10 +0000

Very helpful especially for a novice photographer like me whose interest in capturing the inner beauty of a person through my lenses. Great advice.

By: Klaidas

Klaidas — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:02:08 +0000

Exactly why all my portrait photos are of people I know :]

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:18:04 +0000

Soime good tips. (I need all the help I can get!) I find my grandson can never smile naturally for a picture. He thinks he is though and it never looks like him. I started sitting around holding my camera and taking him when he was unaware. Might not be a professional portrait but when I have zoomed in close it works. What it lacks in professional quality it makes up for with naturalness.

By: Joel Rojo

Joel Rojo — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:17:55 +0000

I would also add that it’s not just how your subject “is”, but how he sees himself, and how he wants to come across. If he’s struggling to develop confidence, if he sees himself as adventurous, and you capture that side of him, then he should be happier, and talk a lot more about your work and will probably showing it to everyone at every chance.

By: Squidman

Squidman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:58:20 +0000

This is why I resist (or maybe de-emphasize) a lot of the general guidelines for posing (hand position, head tilt, etc). You could spend a lot of time adjusting these things and the subject is so focused on their posture they can’t possibly be themselves. The point of engaging is great advice. That’s what I’m finding is so fun about doing social photography, the interaction and capturing the reaction.