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Portrait

A good portrait feels like the person, not the pose. I keep these relaxed — the goal is the version of you your friends would recognize, not a stiff studio shot. Individuals, families, creatives, anyone who wants an image that actually looks like them.

Bearded man in a black beret and black blazer against a pink and teal geometric muralYoung man with swept-back dark hair in a black v-neck against a green backdropSmiling woman with long wavy blonde hair in a white blazer and delicate necklaceStylized man’s portrait for brand campaignSmiling woman with auburn hair in a blue blouse and gold necklace before draped flags

The whole job is getting someone to stop performing. Most people arrive braced — chin set, shoulders up, wearing the face they think a camera wants.

Young woman with long wavy hair in a white tank top against a green backdropBoy in a black fedora and blue checked blazer smiling against a grey backdropCorporate headshot of a businessmanCreative lifestyle portrait of a man

The frame I keep is almost never the one anybody posed for. It is the half-second after, when they exhale.

Creative female portrait captured in commercial shootMan in a green fedora and green patterned short-sleeve shirt against a yellow wallMan in a black cap and clear glasses looking upward, wearing a pink shirt

That is the version people recognise as themselves, and it is the only version worth handing over.

Man in a brown fedora and dark coat with raised fist against a dark backgroundPortrait of a womanElegant portrait of a womanTan short-haired dog looking upward, mouth open, wearing a red collar and tie-dye bandanaYoung man in a grey Nike t-shirt and tinted aviator sunglasses, towers and water behindPortrait of a manBearded man in black glasses and a grey button-down shirt against a plain wallSmiling man with a shaved head in a navy polo shirt holding a folded white coatBoy in a black fedora and pale blue shirt, arms crossed, brown studio backdropWoman with long dark hair in a green palm-leaf print top, white backgroundBearded man in a kippah, glasses and prayer shawl over a white shirt, green backdropBlack-and-white portrait of a shirtless muscular man with braided hair and wrapped hands

Nothing usable happens until that drops, and it never drops because you asked. It drops because you talked about something else for four minutes and forgot to be a photographer for a second.Light does the rest.

Woman with long black hair in a blue sleeveless dress, arms crossed, grey backgroundCreative portrait of a womanSmiling man with a grey beard in a dark suit, pink tie and pocket squarePregnant woman in a magenta off-shoulder gown holding her belly, side view, white background

One source, placed where it models the face instead of flattening it, and a background far enough back to fall away. I would rather have soft light from one honest direction than a rig that erases every shadow, because shadow is what tells you a face has structure.

Dancer in metallic crop top and combat boots reclining on a white studio floor

A bio page and a wall at home are different photographs

Tell me what the picture is for before anything else. A bio page, a byline, a wall at home, a profile someone scrolls past on a phone — those are different photographs. They want different distance, different crop, a different amount of room around the head.

Bring clothes you have already worn. Something new and stiff makes you sit differently, and you will read as uncomfortable because you are. Past that there is nothing to prepare, and preparing tends to backfire. Your job is not to hold a face. Your job is to talk, and let the face go where it goes.

Why your own face looks wrong to you

There is a reason a photograph of your face can feel slightly wrong to you and look fine to everyone else. You know your own face from a mirror — reversed, and moving. A photograph hands it back the other way round and holds it still. The asymmetry you never noticed is suddenly on the wrong side.

So the problem is usually the format, not the face. It is also why I am not trying to catch a held expression. A face in the middle of doing something is legible in a way a face being held still is not, and it survives being looked at.

Explore my other photography categories or get in touch if you’re planning a project.

Planning something like this?

Tell me what you have in mind and I will tell you honestly whether I am the right person to shoot it.