@yoyo
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… One lesson I learned is that “go stand over there” is a surprisingly good place to start with a model. At least they will adopt a natural pose and you can tweak from there.
…I was reading a piece written on portraiture by a photo journalist, and the crux of the piece seemed to be about what to say first to the newsworthy person he was assigned to photograph. “Go stand over there,” seemed to be his best suggestion as an opening line. It put people at ease, and he could start snapping some pictures before they got the idea of posing in their head. It also allowed him to make sure the exposure and focus were correct, etc. Unfortunately I can’t recall who he was.
In regards to looking like a professional, I would say act the part. Go into the shoot well prepared with a plan of what you want to do. Just like being a professional in any other collaborative venture.
When I want to avoid looking like a schmuck in my day job, I do the prep work, because that is my job as an professional. Take for example a road reconnaissance. I plan the route, estimate distances and times, collect the report forms and fill out as much as possible before the mission begins, verify the communications plan, consider alternate routes and bypasses, etc. My driver is also a professional, and I can depend on him to have the truck ready to go at the departure time, and he does. Then when we’re actually out on the mission, things flow smoothly and quickly. We return to base, and I complete the reports quickly while my driver cleans up the truck and preps for the next mission.
How does this correlate to a photo shoot? Rehearse in your mind or in your hands what you want to do before the model shows up. Know what lenses you will be using, how the lighting will be setup, where you expect the model to stand and how you want him or her to pose, how long the shooting will last, etc. When the time for the shoot arrives, be in the right place at the right time with the right equipment (and the right attitude: confidence). Afterwards (in a time-for-prints scenario) know what post processing you want to do, what size prints and how many, how long printing will take, when you estimate delivery to the model,…
Now, the true mark that separates a professional from an amateur, is that the professional (in any field) did all these things that I mention so long ago and so often that they make it all look flawless every time. The last time I went to a commercial studio for my portrait, the photographer was quick, confident, organized,… My only suggestion to her was to stuff a bent wire coat hanger under the US flag so it drapes more widely from the pole. She already had the flag in her studio for the occasional patriotic shoots, like soldiers in uniform.
My official portrait was taken care of by a guy at White Sands Missile Range. (Their photo quality is second only to the Yuma artillery test center, if that.) I had no appointment. (I was there to get my teeth cleaned and stopped off at the photo office to see if they could squeeze me it.) It took about 15 minutes total, and at least 5 minutes were spent looking for the template for the name/SSN/date/etc. that I have removed from the upper corners. Their back drop is even torn by my right ear, but that took less than 30 seconds for them to fix in PS. The shoot was much faster than I expected. “Stand on the box, turn that way, let me put this piece of tape on your coat to keep it closed in front, lower your chin.” Click-click-click, done. The fact that the guys in this shop spend most of their days doing graphic design for whatever-heritage-month and taking pictures of supersonic missiles in flight, but they can still swing for the fences on a spur of the moment portrait is why they get paid to do this every day.
portrait-blank by Kimo Sully, on Flickr
