Psychology.
Part of your job is to make your subjects feel good about
themselves, which can take the form of reassurance or
flattery, both of which should be doled out in a realistic
way or they won’t be believed. Like all kids, teens will
react positively to your enthusiasm and positive energy as
long as they feel it’s genuine.
It is often said that one of the ingredients of a great
portrait photographer is an ability to relate to other peo-
ple. With teens, a genuine interest in them as people can
go a long way. Ask them about their lives, their hobbies,
their likes and dislikes, and try to get them to open up to
you. Of course, this is not always easy. Some teens are in-
trospective and moody and it will take all of your social
skills to bring them out of their shells.
Part of being a good psychologist is watching the sub-
ject’s mannerisms and expressions. You will get a chance
to do that if you have a pre-session meeting, which is ad-
visable. Take notes as to poses that the client may fall into
naturally—both seated and standing. Get a feeling for
how they carry themselves and their posture. You can
then use this information in the photo session. Such in-
sight makes them feel that you are paying attention to
them as individuals.
FACING PAGE,TOP—Bruce Dorn, as a filmmaker, tends to think in
the horizontal format, using the film frame cinematically. Here, he
used an undiffused softbox remotely triggered by a Pocket Wizard
to provide a sharp-angled main light, reminiscent of sunlight. The
device, which Dorn created and offers for sale off his website
(www.idcphotography.com), is called the Strobe Slipper. In this ex-
ample, the undiffused softbox was held by an assistant at close
range to provide a main light. The clouds are diffused and hazy as
if this were a dream. The boy’s hair and overall look is reminiscent
of James Dean posters from the 1950s.
FACING PAGE,BOTTOM—In this image, Bruce Dorn incorporated a
wild background of power and phone lines and has taken great care
to have a line running through each of the twins’ heads—as if they
were part of the information transmitted across the lines. The
image was lit with Dorn’s Strobe Slipper, but this time the softbox
was diffused and used very close to the twins so that the light was
ultra-soft.
TOP LEFT—Bruce Dorn’s Strobe Slipper is a self-contained softbox
that uses a Pocket Wizard and Canon Speedlight mounted in a
small 24-inch square Photoflex softbox. The device can also be
configured to hold an external battery.
BOTTOM LEFT—Chris Nelson uses natural light and lets his teen
subjects pose how they want to be seen. Here, we have a dancer on
top of an ancient pickup.