the eyes looking towards the edge
of the portrait a more thoughtful
and pensive image has been
rendered.
Image taken in the studio. Spruce
Colourama, 1 Elinchrom BRXi
500, Octa 100cm softbox key light,
hair light with honeycomb, Nikon
D2Xs and 24–70 lens.Goodposing,andgettingitrightfromthegroundup,can
alsoenablethephotographerto‘work’aposetocreatea
wider variety of shots from the same set-up. If every
elementofthebodyisplacedinaconsideredwayandthe
lighting is correct thephotographer cantake a series of
shots by justgettingcloser to or moving around the subject.
THE EYES
It goeswithoutsayingthatin mostportraits theprimary
areaofinterestwillbetheeyes,oneofthemostexpressive
parts of the face. If the subject is unengaged or
uncomfortable,itwillbeinstantlyapparent,astheeyeswill
glaze over or look away from the photographer.
Quiteoften,especially whenphotographing children, we
noticeasparkintheeyes;thiswilloccurwhenthesubject
is excited or captivated by what they are doing. Adult
subjects arealso morelikely to feel comfortable in the
presenceofsomebodywhoisinterestedandcanlistenand
conversewell.Achievingthis expressionand emotionin
the eyes should be the photographer’s main goal when