THP Tip #4: Portrait Photography

THP Tip #4: Portrait Photography                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
So to bring you up to speed thus far:                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
THP Tip #1: Portrait Photography and the topic was Bokeh.
THP Tip #2: Portrait Photography and the topic was on making your model/subject/client comfortable.
THP Tip #3: Portrait Photography and the topic was on communication.                                                                                                             
My fourth tip is another tip for portrait photography which will be on being professional.  I am not saying only be professional if you are doing portrait photography but that is what I do so that is what I will discuss.  I also do macro, landscape and other kinds of photography but I decided to just group it under portraiture since I deal with people more one on one with my portraits.                                                                                                               
Being Professional:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
Personally I think being professional is definitely something you should focus on if you don't think you have it mastered already.  If you are not professional, you can lose clients and business which can only have a cascading effect and get worse.  If you are known as someone who is unprofessional, that is bad news.  I guess parts of this section is also very important to models too.  So if you are reading this and you are a model as well... then get your pen and paper out.                                                                                                                                                            
If you are doing photography as more than a hobby, and want to make money off of it, you have to look and act like a professional.  What I mean by this is, is people won't feel as inclined to pay you if this is just something you do for fun.  So if you make a meeting with a potential model and show up looking too casual, you won't inspire confidence.  This is very important for clients who are hiring you for a job.  If someone meets with you to see your portfolio and you show up with a couple unbound 4x6 prints and you are wearing sweatpants... you might end up not getting a lot of work.  Also this is the same with the actual shoots.  You want to show up looking like you didn't just roll out of bed.  It is also how you act and the things you say.  I don't think I could actually go through and tell you what to say or how to act but I think that is common sense.  Be polite, respectful and kind.  Don't ever act like you are in a rush or not give your client 100% of your attention.  People are sometimes very observant and will definitely know if you are only giving them 50% of your attention or time.  Just all and all act the part or don't wonder why no one wants to pay you/hire you for your photography.                                                                                                                                                                                           
Personally I think being professional elicits comfort in your subjects.  I have started doing nude shoots and you need to act very professional and this, I find, allows the model to be comfortable.  How you go about the shoot, how you act and even how you contacted the model about the shoot matters a lot.  During the shoot they can act like they are comfortable but you don't want to find out after the shoot they didn't like the experience.  So far I have done two of these shoots, the first, the model said she would come back and do more if I needed more shots.  The second said she would refer me to her other friends.  So before the shoot matters with how professional you are, during the shoot definitely matters, and if you do that right, you will get positive outcomes after your shoots hopefully.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
There are many many many points I could go over here.  I picked these ones and if you want me to post more on this subject just send me an e-mail at tomhoustonphotography@gmail.com.                                                                                                                                                                      
Hope you enjoyed it and I will be discussing all the different ways to get you and your photos seen in my next THP Tip.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Thanks for reading!