Portrait photography tip: Find a relaxed expression
Sunday 1 August 2021, 13:13 by Elja Trum | 4,330 views | 1 commentThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Many people put on a forced smile when someone takes their photo. That smile is a mask, and not the real person you are photographing. You want to capture the person behind the mask.
It helps if you can make sure your model is less focused on 'having their photo taken'. You should really distract them. You can do this, for example, by having a chat while taking the photos.
You can also give someone an assignment. Their concentration is then no longer on maintaining the forced smile. A simple assignment could be to look at the ground for a moment or read something aloud.
When they look back at you, it usually takes a moment before they put their mask back on. Make sure you have taken the photo by then.
There is also a whole movement of photographers who use questions and assignments to create spontaneous portraits. Also check out our Spontaneous Portraits Without Posing course on Photofacts Academy.
About the author
Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.
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1 comment
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Lauran van Schilt wrote on Tuesday 3 August 2021 at 12:03 | replyA forced portrait: then it's the photographer's fault. A model should feel comfortable at all times. A light chat beforehand over a cup of coffee is already a good start. Talk to your model and give compliments, but don't force it. Sincerity works wonders. It's an ongoing game between the photographer and the person being photographed. Regularly show the photos that have already been taken. It gives more confidence. Especially with people who aren't used to it. Photography is also partly psychology. As a photographer, you should master that.
Translated from Dutch.
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Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
