3 Tips for Creating Better Portraits

When I think about creating portraits of someone there's a bit of work that goes into that session before we meet.

Get to know your client.

Building a relationship with the person you're photographing will result in portraits that have a connection.

Share the work as you go.

Tethering your camera to your computer is a great way to show your clients the images while you are capturing them. This ensures you are getting images that they love.

Prep Your Gear!

So this is really applicable to any genre of photography, but when I know I have a portrait session coming up, I always do the following things to ensure I have back-ups and am ready to go:

• Create a list of the gear I need

• Charge all batteries

• Setup/Pack the gear the day before (whenever possible)

• Test Gear (cameras, lenses, lighting)

• Test Tethering

By investing time in these steps I know I will be ready to go when the client arrives or I meet them on location.

Bonus tip:

Have backups of whatever gear possible. Typically I like to have at least one back up camera body, a few extra batteries, tethering cable and memory cards.