Pictures of Ourselves...

[kellen1]

During the Holidays, we are all going to have a photo snapped of us that we

will later see and say "I look like THAT?" Do you think the average shot of

you, really looks like you? Do you think that we see ourselves others see us?

I know that I have heard that we are our own worst critics but most people do

feel as though they are above average looking-which,of couse, mathematicllay

can't be true. Hmmmmmnnn...

[kellen1]

please excuse my spelling!

[pico]

Dis be me.<div></div>

[neilpeters]

No, the average snapshot does not look like you. Bad photography from plastic lenses is not me, please don't let it be me :) I've been taking pictures of people for 35 years, they certainly don't see themselves the way I do. It is my honor to show them how beautiful they truely are.

 

You math is all wrong. All people are born beautiful, and then bad thought patterns take their toll. [This does not apply to NY Yankee fans]

[billy_mabrey]

For some reason I never show up in photographs, its always that guy that watches me brush my teeth...

[AJHingel]

Pico, does "he self" really look like that one ?

[lee_shively]

I am quite sure I look like a cross between Brad Pitt and a younger Tom Selleck, therefore, I find all photographs of myself to be inaccurate and distasteful.

[phyrpowr]

Mine look like me but older, so does my mirror image, so my deduction is that glass must have some aging effect

[kellen1]

Ok Niel, you are no longer alod to comment on this thread, we are Mets Fans :)

 

Seriously, ...what are some of your tricks to capturing good portraits that have personality...is it them film, the camera, the timing, how do you do it? And if you could post a good portrait for me so I can see what one looks like! Also, how do you get someone else to take a good picture of you?

[dickhilker]

One reason people don't like their pictures is that they're used to seeing their images in a mirror. That's why I always flip portraits so they show the subject his mirror image, rather than the one captured by the camera. If you give your subject the choice of a "straight" picture or one that's been flipped, they'll choose the latter every time!

 

Also, I think we tend to idealize our own appearance and find the stark reality of a snapshot, especially one taken with the semi-wide angle optics of a P&S camera with flash less than comforting. I much prefer my reflected view by the subtle glow of a night light in my bathroom to the harsh overhead fluorescents in a public restroom: they always add about ten years and tons of wrinkles.

[pico]

Anders, that really be me, albeit a few (*cough*) years ago. Trim the mustache and take a

little off the top... oh, and add eyes. :)

<p>

Back on topic...

<p>

<i>Seriously, ...what are some of your tricks to capturing good portraits that have

personality...is it them film, the camera, the timing, how do you do it? And if you could

post a good portrait for me so I can see what one looks like! </i><p>

 

Portraiture is truly a difficult craft. So-called production studio portraiture has rules,

certainly, but if you follow the rules strictly the outcome is more like photographic

embalming; people accept it but it is not particularly enlightening.<p>

 

However, it's a place to start for one who thinks it might be the camera, film (and light

which you did not mention) and timing. First study formal lighting. It leads to all the hard

parts quickly.

[Spearhead]

<i>if you follow the rules strictly the outcome is more like photographic embalming; people</i><P>

 

Unfortunately, most of the recommendations for portraiture found on forums hew to the technical, which leads to the embalming. It's not that the choices of equipment, particularly lighting, and the use of the equipment, particularly lighting, isn't critical. However, it's secondary.<p>

 

Great portraiture always starts with a relationship between the photographer and the photographed. It is not that there is one specific type of relationship that works, there are many approaches. Disfarmer, for example, is successful because his misanthropic view of the world shines through, separating his work from the vast majority of local portrait studios of the 40s. Arbus' portraiture shows her fascination with the dark side of her subjects regardless of their self-view. The portraits of these two photographers project their view onto their subjects.<p>

 

Others seem to sit back and allow the subject all the room - Snowdon is a good example. His portraits seem to carry little of his personality.<p>

 

Speaking personally, I try to get the subjects talking. I steer them to subjects that will give results I want, maybe something about their appearance they have spent time on, or their family. I try to get away from idle chit-chat, I don't really find that gives interesting results. And sometimes I just find those moments without any real interaction. <P>

 

I have several pages of photographs of people<a href="http://www.spirer.com/People/"> here</a> - not all are photos I would consider portraits, but many are, especially on the second page. Most were done with available lighting, several used more studio-type lighting. Maybe they will provide some help with <i>

some of your tricks to capturing good portraits that have personality.</i>

[charles_stobbs3]

Each of us looks above average to at least one other - our mother, our wife, our dog/cat maybe. Well, maybe not.

[pico]

I live in MinneSnowta where ... aw, you have heard the lines from Prairie Home Companion.

 

But for a better picture this is, or was, really me: http://www.digoliardi.net/picothen.jpg

 

I am forbidden by the State of MinneSnowta from placing my current image online; it's

something about MinneSnowta broadcast decency laws...

 

Be grateful!

[pico]

Jeff posted: http://www.spirer.com/People/

 

That work is what it's all about, IMHO, and the importance of it will grow over the years as

compounded human interest. Thanks for being there and making the pictures.

 

(An aside, Jeff.. I found some negatives of some Chicago Jazz musicians from the sixties and

seventies. Do you think you could ID them?)

[Spearhead]

If I can't, I know people who can. Send them or a link.

 

Interesting, wonder what you would look like dead on with no blur. I only shoot myself with blur or a mask.

[pico]

<i>Interesting, wonder what you would look like dead on with no blur</i><p>

You want to know what I would look like DEAD? Oh, that's really nice.<p>

OH! You mean "dead on"... good one.<p>

I'll make a portrait pretty soon. Gotta find some way to make a picture without actually

looking at the outcome. Can't stand the sight meself. Lemmie work on it.<p>

Oh, and I have seen a clear photo of you. Remember: Nothing posted to the 'net ever goes

away. It ain't bad, either, yer picture I mean.<p>

Now I have a book to read.. g'nite all.

[vallery]

In response to flipping the portrait..that makes sense. Exception and this one bugs me....when a guitarist or any instrumentalist is a right handed player and they look off because they are misrepresented as a left-handed player (or vice versa).

Having someone use the opposite hand would make for an uncomfortable shot to begin with and make the player feel awkward.

For a regular headshot the flipping is probably more effective for consumer choice.

[kellen1]

Thanks to all for your responses. I think that candid photos are the closest that we will ever come to seeing how we really appear. I have heard that it is really great for your self esteem to have a nice picture of yourself to look at...I am still trying to find one of those, they seem to be elusive! It would be nice if we could all have Annie Lebowitz follow us for a day and shoot her magic portraits.

 

Have a great Christmas!

(here's to no red eye)

 

KS

[pico]

Flipping pictures is just so wrong, IMHO. Buttons and pockets end up on the wrong side, tie-

knots go wrong, and other strange things can happen.

[j.kivekas]

A couple of years ago I met a face where I saw certain things, proportions. I tried to shoot them but I never got it quite right. I came to the conclusion that we see with two eyes and we form a 3D image in our brains and further more, not only do we see 3D with our minds but we actually see everything dynamically, that is motions, and this makes our visualisation ability 4D. The 2D optics of the camera can never really compete with our eyes and thus a portrait is always short of the info that we have in our minds..

[pico]

We do not create a 3D image in our mind. It is more than that, so suggesting 4D or 5D, or

any description sufficiently vague at this moment is better than positing that the world is

camera-like in our mind. It is not camera-like.

 

The contemporary notion that a photograph represents some kind of common state is

an aquired presumption, a cultural touchstone, a tentative metaphor for a kind of reality.

Culture begs to better express itself so it will, and art will reflect that.

 

The "art" of photographic portraiture requires a breakthough, and a breakthrough will be

something that resonates with the sponsoring culture as that vision which begs to be

expressed: that thing that will resolve the tension between traditional photographic

metaphors for the presense of a human being and what it is next, and that something will

be thoroughly digital which is as ephemeral as human existence really is.

[kellen1]

I really like your philosophy but I want to see some of your art! Post some pictures, please. Thank You!

[thomas_hardy1]

I think it is the photographer who makes the subject look bad.

 

Case in point, I went to a protrait studio to have my photo taken to be placed in book that my place of employment puts out. I thought the session was going just a bit strangely but, he's the pro.

 

I wear eyeglasses and he kept having me turn my head this and that way to avoid reflections. I think he could have moved his lights a little. My office person picked what she thought was the best photo, and it was published in the book. Year after year this goofy photo of me with my chin resting on my chest and head cocked in a silly position is published for the world to see.

 

Now, the place where I work wants us to all wear ID badges; and where did they get my photo......I'm looking at it now....chin against my chest, head tilted in a silly position eyes looking upward toward the camera. I've seen many photos of myself and in none of them do I have that expression. I've stood in front of a mirror mimicking this same pose, and I can honestly say that I have NEVER made such a goofy expression in my entire life. Ive made better self portraits with a point and shoot digicam.

 

The real crime is that this place uses another photographer to take photos of people who have put in a significant number of years on the job and all the women look elegant and the men dignified. The photos proudly hang in the corridors of the institution, and I admire them everyday.

 

I guess the photog who makes the IDs has a ton of money in the bank already because I can't think of one person who uses him for, Senior photos, weddings, corporate etc...in this town. Maybe he has no talent or just doesn't care.

 

Come to think of it, my daughters say I take better photos (just snapshots) of them than the guy who has the contract to do their school photos.

 

Guess who they are going to use to do their senior protraits?

[pico]

<i>Now, the place where I work wants us to all wear ID badges; and where did they get my

photo.....</i><p>

Here's a sad truth: I really do look like my driver's license picture. I'm half tempted to go to

the police station to see if their mug shot guy can do a better job.