Jeff Smith's Guide to Head and Shoulders Portrait Photography

number one actually wanted an alluring portrait for her husband (that was her
need) and was slightly embarrassed about telling the male photographer her
ideas. Since she wears suits each day in her business, she thought her husband
would find it sexy if she acted as though she was removing the blazer to show
her bare shoulders (that was her desire). She isn’t as thin as she used to be and
felt that showing as little of her as possible would be the most flattering. The
photographer didn’t meet her desire, so no sale resulted from session one.
In session two, the young lady had just received her real-estate license and
wanted a portrait for her business cards. She had no professional clothing, so she

10 JEFF SMITH’S GUIDE TO HEAD AND SHOULDERS PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

LEFT AND FACING PAGE—In this series of im-

ages, we filled the need and the desire of

each of our fictional clients in the above

scenarios (although this young lady is of a

different age than those in the examples).

What Client 1 got. What Client 1 wanted.

What Client 2 got. What Client 2 wanted.

The photographer

didn’t meet her desire,

so no sale resulted

from session one.