Recruit your inner Austin Powers for better portraits
|I often sound like a complete idiot when I’m shooting portraits. With the camera pressed to my face there’s a steady stream of nonsense dribbling out of my mouth almost the entire time. When I really get into my stride, I resemble Austin Powers at his best:
So, chatting away to your subjects is a good thing. But what should you say? Here are a few rules I live by when it comes to portrait banter:
- First off, you’re not actually having a conversation. People generally don’t look good when they’re mid-speech, so don’t ask them a question, and then start snapping – you’re likely to get a load of odd expressions. If you want to chat with them, put the camera down, stop shooting, and make eye contact.
- Avoid topics that might be controversial – save that for the pub later on – the last thing you want to do when you’ve only got a very small window of time with someone is to bring up a topic that winds them up – an angry subject is not likely to be very co-operative.
- Always use positive language, or frame things in a positive way. Don’t say “You’re getting a double chin when you sit like that”, say “Just lift your head up for me slightly, and look off in that direction”.

- Don’t draw attention to things – people may be sensitive about bald patches, blemishes, bad teeth, double chins or any number of imperfections. You should have clocked these the second they walked in, and have a plan for dealing with them. Make sure this plan doesn’t end up making them more self-conscious either – if you have to alter the lighting slightly to get a reflection out of their glasses, don’t make a big thing about it, it might make them very self-conscious.
- Whilst always using positive language, give useful direction. It’s OK to use words like “great, awesome, super, fantastic” and generally act like Austin Powers up to a point, but giving someone vague and waffly direction is not going to help. When it comes to actually requesting people do things, or act in a certain way, don’t ask people to do stuff that just sounds weird and vague – be specific.
- Act out your directions if necessary – pose in a similar way. Make your direction easy to follow – I always use “their” left and right, rather than my own (so, reversing my sides) but whichever you do, make sure you’re consistent throughout.

- Don’t try too hard to make someone laugh. Unless you have a natural talent for comedy it’s a very tricky ground to get into. A joke that seems hilarious to you may be offensive to someone else, and if you offend someone, you’re really going to struggle to get a good shot of them.
- Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself, and remember the golden rule of photographing people – there’s only one ego allowed on set, and it should be the one in front of the camera. I often start shooting someone by warning my subjects that there will be a steady stream of rubbish, mixed with some bollocks, and a degree of crap thrown in too. I’m OK with them laughing “at” me – as long as it helps me get the shot I want, how I look is secondary.
Hope that all helps, here’s another video masterclass from the great man himself: