When You Want More Than a Traditional Portrait

There’s nothing wrong with a traditional portrait.  Our parents and grandparents had their Sears studio portraits, and school picture day is still a thing. Personally, I still think there’s something fun about those shopping mall Santa photos.

Those kinds of portraits have their place. They document a person at a particular time, and in a very comfortable and traditional way, and sometimes that’s exactly what you want.

But there are also people who want something different; a portrait that feels more like an artistic interpretation of who they are, not just a good picture of what they look like.

That’s where having a photographer with a distinct, unique style becomes important.

When someone comes to me for a portrait, they’ll usually point to a few images in my portfolio and say, “I was thinking something similar to these.” That doesn’t mean I’m going to copy pictures I’ve already made, but it does give me a pretty good idea of the mood and style they’re drawn to.  And from there, they usually trust me to do my thing.

My own style tends to be deep and dramatic. I use a lot of shadow and relatively simple gear/setups. I don’t want the lighting or editing to become the subject of the photograph. I don’t want someone looking at an image and immediately wondering, “What preset did he use?”  I like to make my portraits about the subject, not the photography itself.  So, I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about elaborate wardrobes, props, or cheesy backdrops, either. Again, I just like to keep things simple. 

The environment might not even be featured as such.  It’s usually more of a visual suggestion and your imagination fills in the rest.

I’m interested in not just making someone look good, but creating an image that conveys a mood or reveals some part of their personality that doesn’t normally come through in a selfie or a straightforward headshot.

And this is something you don’t have to have an art degree to appreciate. I’ve photographed plenty of people who couldn’t explain exactly why they liked my photography. It just works for them.

I think the best portrait photographer for someone is not necessarily the one who can produce the most universally appealing photograph. It’s the one whose way of seeing people resonates with that person.  My clients can get a traditional portrait from a lot of photographers. When they come to me, I think they’re usually looking for something a little more personal.

They want the kind of image that could only have come from the way I see them.