Jeff Smith Portrait Pro What you MUST know to make photography your career Amherst mediA, inc. BuffAlo, nY Jeff Smith is a professional photographer and the owner of two very successful studios in central California. His numerous articles have appeared in Rangefinder, Professional Photographer, and Studio Photography and Design magazines. Jeff has been a featured speaker at the Senior Photographers Inter- national Convention, as well as at numerous seminars for professional photographers. He has written seven books, including Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography; Corrective Lighting, Posing, and Retouching Techniques for Portrait Photographers; Professional Digital Portrait Photography; and Success in Portrait Photography (all from Amherst Media®). His common-sense approach to photography and business makes the information he presents both practical and very easy to understand. Copyright © 2014 by Jeff Smith. All rights reserved. All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted. Published by: Amherst Media, Inc. P.O. Box 586 Buffalo, N.Y. 14226 Fax: 716-874-4508 www.AmherstMedia.com Publisher: Craig Alesse Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Harvey Goldstein, Beth Alesse Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth Editorial Assistance from: Carey A. Miller, Sally Jarzab, John S. Loder Business Manager: Adam Richards Warehouse and Fulfillment Manager: Roger Singo ISBN-13: 978-1-60895-735-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014933306 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher. Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the author’s experience and opin- ions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book. Check out Amherst Media’s blogs at: http://portrait-photographer.blogspot.com/ http://weddingphotographer-amherstmedia.blogspot.com/ Table of Contents Introduction A Few Great Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The First Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Master Previsualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The How vs. The Why . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Being a Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 3. Earning While Learning . . . . . . . . .24 Know When to Say No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 1. Hobbyist or Professional? . . . . . . .10 Become an Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 What’s the Difference? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 A Letter of Non-Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Look at Your Bookshelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Support Work Is How You Start . . . . . . . . . . . 27 The Rush to Make Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Don’t Be a Poacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 The Business of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1 . Art Is Determined by the Buyer, Not the Creator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 2 . We Serve Those Who Pay Us . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Evaluate Your Readiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 1 . Don’t Trust Your Friends and Family . . . . . 15 2 . Be Honest About Your Willingness to Take Responsibility . .15 3 . Don’t Expect to Learn on the Job . . . . . . . .16 4 . Decide if You Can Be an Asset to the Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 2. Learn How to Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Learn From Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 The High Cost of “Free” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Who’s Your Teacher? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Formal Instruction vs. Self-Education and Mentoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Practice, Practice, Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 1 . Implementation Enhances Retention . . . . .21 2 . Perfect Practice Makes Perfect . . . . . . . . . .21 3 . Practice with Real Subjects in Real Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 table of contents 3 Speculative Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Other Factors in Salability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Shoot for Publications and Businesses . . . . . . 28 Idealization and Self-Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Bigger Faces Mean Bigger Sales . . . . . . . . . . 43 4. Gear: Think Like a Pro . . . . . . . . . . . 30 A Customized Look for Each Subject . . . . . . . 44 Control Imaging Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Take Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Cameras: Tools, Not Status Symbols . . . . . . . 31 Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 6. Consistency Lights and Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 and Lasting Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Make Purchases Based on Results . . . . . . . . . 33 Consistent ≠ Boring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Learn to Use What You Have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The Images Change, the Quality Stays the Same . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 5. A Salable Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Understand Your Clients’ Tastes . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Understand What All Clients Want . . . . . . . . . 35 The Eyes: Classic or Contemporary? . . . . . . . 47 Beautiful Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Shadows: Dramatic or Subtle? . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Shape-Defining Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Retouching: Glamorous or Natural? . . . . . . . 47 Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Allow for Variety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Direct the Eye with Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Plan for Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Expert Retouching and Printing . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Consistency in Postproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Understand Your Client’s Individual Needs . . 39 Consistency in Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 The Purpose of the Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Design for Lasting Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 The Client’s “Problem Areas” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Tips on Video Consultations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 How to Talk with Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The Impact of Emotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 4 portrait pro 7. Clothing Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 The Feet and Toes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Don’t Limit Your Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Why Show It? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 The Story of the Angora Sweater . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Practice Building Poses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Guide Clients to the Right Look . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 For the Fashion-Impaired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 10. Lighting Essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Finishing Touches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Light Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Portrait Light Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 8. Background Selection . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Light Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Analyze the Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Main Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Background Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Fill Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Basic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Background Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Hair Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Accent Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Broad vs. Short Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Light Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Learn to Manipulate Backgrounds . . . . . . . . . 59 Soft/Diffused Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Get the Client’s Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Hard/Directional Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Controlling Light Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . 79 9. Posing Essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Size Relative to Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Analyze the Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 The Distance to the Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Choose the Right Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Light Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Traditional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Control the Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Casual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Glamorous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 The Face and Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Connection to Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Control the Camera Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Frame the Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Tilting the Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The Nose and Ears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 The Mouth and Lips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Mirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 The Neck and Shoulders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 The Arms and Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 The Bust and Chest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 The Waist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 The Hips and Thighs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Standing Poses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Seated Poses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Reclining Poses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 The Booty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 The Legs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 table of contents 5 Feather the Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Skin Tone and Light Characteristics . . . . . . . . 81 What Works for Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Lighting Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Metering and Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Why Meter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Consistency and Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 How to Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Don’t Overlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Add Fill to Control Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Flash Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Reflected Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 Run Lighting Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 The Eyes Are Critical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 The Main Light Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Catchlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Develop Your “Camera Vision” . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Get It Right—In the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 11. Outdoor Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Problems with Available Light Only . . . . . . . . . 93 1 . Insufficient Variety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 2 . Too Little Shooting Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Adding Light Makes It Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Evaluate the Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Add Reflected Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Add Strobe Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Try Dragging the Shutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 12. Composition Essentials . . . . . . . .97 What to Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Finish Off the Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Position the Subject in the Frame . . . . . . . . . . 99 Camera Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 High Angle, Low Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Camera Tilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 13. Portrait Presentation . . . . . . . . . 103 Presenting Images to Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 How It Used to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Why Instant Ordering Is Better . . . . . . . . . . 105 Learn How to Sell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 A Skilled Salesperson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 6 portrait pro One Decision at a Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Conclusion Selling Is Serious Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 What to Know as You Go Pro . . . . .121 Printing and Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 1. Don’t Squander Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 2. Understand Your Costs and Pricing . . . . . 122 Print Finishing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 3. Build Value Every Step of the Way . . . . . . 122 Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 4. Create Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 5. Manage Your Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 14. Your Studio’s Image . . . . . . . . . . . 111 6. Determine the Right Location . . . . . . . . . . 123 Marketing and Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 7. Don’t Get Overwhelmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Consider Your Demographic . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Repetition Is Critical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 Ask Your Best Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Giving Work Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Direct Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Create a Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Tailor Your Marketing to Your Image . . . . . . 115 Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Your Studio’s Brand Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 table of contents 7 INTRODUCTION The First Step D igital photography has made it possible for the average person to go from camera owner to professional photographer more quick- ly than ever before. However, there are still many choices new photog- raphers must make to ensure a successful career—and many skills that must be mastered to produce salable images. In this book, I will help you choose the path you wish to travel and arrive at your destination in the best position to succeed. The How vs. The Why I was a child of the ’80s—when bigger and flashier were better and the faster you could get where you wanted to be, the better off you were. That thinking caused me some setbacks. Like many of you, I I went directly to the didn’t go to college. Not only was it expensive, but I also saw it as a “slow way” to get where I wanted to be. Instead, I went directly to source and learned from the source and learned from working professional photographers. working professional This taught me how to handle the situations I was helping them photographers. with, which was useful, but it never taught me why the photogra- phers made the decisions they did. In this book, you will hear me talk quite a bit about how and why. You could watch me do an outdoor session—and, if you paid close attention, you’d be able to duplicate the process I used for that session. You would have learned the how. Unfortunately, learn- ing the how is the easy part. What if you watched me photograph an 8 portrait pro Being a Professional outdoor session on a sunny day, but the day you went out was cloudy? What if I was photograph- Even for the hobbyist photographer there are ing a thin model in a mini-skirt and your first cli- plenty of how/why questions to address about ent was an overweight senior citizen? what happens when you have a camera in your As a professional photographer, you have to hands and a subject in front of your lens. For know how to produce a salable portrait no mat- those of us who choose to make our livings in pro- ter what the circumstances are. When you are fessional photography, there are also even more accepting money from a client (no matter how how/why questions to consider. You can have all hideous their clothing, no matter how bad the the camera skills in the world, but if you don’t natural lighting, and no matter how ugly the spend just as much (or, frankly, even more) time scene or background) you have to deal with the addressing these variables, your business simply challenges and produce a salable portrait. This is won’t thrive. The line between what it means to why it’s critical to learn not just the how but also love photography as a hobbyist and what it means the why—why the photographer did what he or to choose photography as your profession has be- she did. What was the thought process that led to come pretty blurry in recent years, so that’s where the final portraits? we’ll start in the next chapter. the first step 9 1. Hobbyist or Professional? H obbyist or professional? For many younger photographers, the answer to this question seems like a no-brainer. “Of course I want to be a professional photographer!” they proclaim. That might be the case initially—but when you dig into what it really means to go pro, the right answer can be a lot harder to determine. What’s the Difference? When I first started in photography, there were two types of pho- tographers: the professionals and the hobbyists. Both groups loved photography, but one group wanted to run a photography busi- Being a professional ness, while the other group just wanted to enjoy photography. photographer As a professional photographer, I work with cameras every day. This is my job—so when I travel on vacation, I don’t take a bunch doesn’t mean you of camera equipment and create beautiful photos in beautiful plac- take photographs es. When I visit relatives, they always wonder where my camera is to all the time. do their family photo. I ask them, “When you travel, do you bring your tools so you can fix the family toilets and plumbing prob- lems?” I love photography, but I do it every day. Another tough realization young photographers face is that being a professional photographer doesn’t mean you take photo- graphs all the time. As a business owner, you will spend much more time marketing and advertising your business, dealing with clients, and handling behind-the-scenes work than you will spend actually making photographs. In fact, the average new photographer spends 10 portrait pro