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 Larry Kelly has been taking photos for many years. He refined his skills as an amateur photographer when he went digital in 2006. A retired environmental law enforcement officer, he enjoys photography, writing, and coaching others. See his work and reach him at www.lawrencekellyphotography.com |
| I love taking portraits of the people I love. It’s a great feeling to capture a person’s essence in the moment. And by study and practice I’ve learned that Good Portraits = 20% Technical Knowledge + 80% Maintaining Rapport. Now, technical knowledge is very important. I can have great rapport, and the person has a great smile and wonderful expression. But it means nothing if the image is out of focus or overexposed. So knowing how to focus; where to focus; using an aperture (f-stop) setting to maintain good sharpness of the face; and ensuring proper exposure and color is critical. You also need to use a longer Focal Length lens, or setting on your zoom lens, so that the person’s head is not distorted. And don’t forget to get closer to the subject. On the other hand, having 25 perfectly focused, perfectly exposed, perfect complexion photos where the person is not smiling, or frowning, or looking tense, or having a frozen phony smile, or looking downright mad at you somehow seems worse to me. To get technical success I use an 85 mm prime lens (or about the same Focal Length on my zoom lens) so that their head will not be distorted. I use an f/stop of 2.8 on the 85 mm lens to help keep everything sharp enough, but have the background out of focus so that it does not interfere with the face. I use center-weighted exposure metering and single auto focus for adults, continuous auto focus for kids. I put the focus/exposure point on the eye where the white meets the pupil. Hopefully, I remember to put the point on the closest eye to me, but I’m still working on that. I also use continuous shooting so that I have a better chance of capturing a great fleeting expression. And I have all these settings pre-set so I don’t have to fumble around and frustrate the person. And that’s the first step to maintaining rapport. Don’t fumble around with the camera. In fact don’t even have the camera on you when you first meet the person. Talk to the person, renew your relationship with them, and put them at ease. For kids, ease into it: Be sure to get down on their level physically and not tower over them giving orders. Get on their level emotionally too. Play a silly game, or make silly faces. Have them run around or play with a favorite toy. Make it all about play and fun. If you get this part right, the person will open up and magic will happen. Grab the camera and shoot away. Capture that magic! |
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20 lucky winners will win $500 each in prizes totaling $10,000. 