Brian, on the other hand, if our photo shoot time is any indication, is a prodigious consumer of tootsie roll pops. Sure, as I got set up he mentioned that it was “a little early” to be hitting the pops (10:30). Then he proceeded to take down four or five in a little over an hour. And unlike earlier snack series participants Alex or Carrie, there didn’t seem to be any ill effects. In fact I’m pretty sure he went straight to #6 as soon as I walked out the door.

But what can you expect? He’s a software engineer; those guys resort to some drastic measures to keep the focus going.

I was a little sad, but not exactly surprised to learn from Brian that you can’t – and never could – collect a certain number of wrappers with the Native American shooting the star and turn them in for free stuff. Apparently that was an urban legend. But Brian does remember bringing one of the special wrappers to the store when he was little and getting a free replacement pop. Man, those were the days.

Why do people react so strongly to a camera? I think it’s because of all those family pictures people are forced to endure growing up. Remember how it was? You’re a kid and someone asks you to stop what you’re doing, smile for like five minutes while mom or dad figures out how to use the camera, and maybe repeat ten times while you could be off playing? People are trained to think that having their picture taken is no fun.

That’s what we’re up against as photographers: we’re the alternative to having fun and being natural. So what do you need to do to take better pictures of people? Make the act of getting your picture taken fun and natural, so that it’s no longer a choice between fun or photos. Here are some ideas on how to make that happen.

Be confident with your camera.
Nothing kills a moment like making a person hold still while you work out your camera’s functions. So instead of making the shot you want the first shot you attempt, take a minute to sort everything out before you ask your subject to look at you and smile. Take a test shot, review and make sure the lighting and exposure are where you want them to be, then take the real shot.

Make it a real interaction.
When you walk up to someone, say Smile! to them, click, and walk away, the interaction that just happened was between your subject, your camera, and your subject’s insecurities about their appearance. Looking at the picture, you’d see an expression that’s part happiness, part bewilderment, part discomfort.

What works better is to talk to your subject before picking up the camera, even if it’s just a sentence or two, so that your subject is interacting with you, not your camera or their own thoughts. Look at that picture and you see a natural, real expression, not the mask of a smile that most people have reserved for pictures.

Keep talking, and keep shooting.
Another uncomfortable fact of life for photographers is that people blink, they start talking when you don’t think they will, they get distracted. For all these reasons and plenty more, make sure you take at least a handful of pictures for every one that you want.

And while you’re shooting, keep up the interaction so that your subject is still engaged with you on a human level.

Don’t start with, “Stand against this wall.”
The more you have to position someone in a special place and out of their normal surroundings, the lower the likelihood that you’ll get a good picture with a good expression. Better to move yourself so that there’s a nice background behind your subject than to move your subject in to a good background. Remember, it’s all about making your subject comfortable.

Ask permission.
Last but certainly not least, always check in with your subject before shooting. Mostly this applies to situations where you don’t know your subject: in public places you’ve just got to explain what you’re doing to avoid being taken for a stalker or crazy person. But even at a party or a social gathering, making eye contact with a person and establishing some kind of understanding that you’re taking pictures is a good idea. Once that communication is taken care of, make sure everyone’s back to being comfortable and snap away.

Being a good portrait photographer is first and foremost about the personal interaction between you and your subject. Keep these rules in mind and you’ll see better expressions in your pictures, and you’ll have more fun making images.

Taking a good picture of a piece of food is trickier than it seems like it should be. After all, it isn’t moving, you don’t have to convince it to smile, and odds are you like it because it tastes good. Heck, your camera might even have an entire shooting mode devoted to food. (My wife’s Olympus point and shoot does.)

So why is it that when most people try turning their photographic eye towards their entree, the pictures end up less than appetizing?

I’m a Minneapolis portrait photographer, but this year I’ve been combining my love of photography with my love of eating. It’s been a blast, and has gotten me behind the scenes for some really fun chef portrait sessions, as well as into some beautiful dining rooms for some fun food photographs. In the process I’ve identified a few basic tips that I think anyone can apply.

Tell a story.
Let’s say you’re in a restaurant. You’re eating this amazing dinner, and you decide it’s so good that you want to document it with a photo. Odds are, it’s the entire experience that’s worth documenting, not just the scallops. So instead of zooming in as tight as you can on the plate, use a wider perspective, lower the camera to the level of the table, and include some of the dining room in the frame. Including more context in a photo tells more of a story, and will produce a more effective memento.

Turn off the flash.
One of the things that makes photography in restaurants tricky is the moody (read: dim) lighting. If your camera is set to a program mode, by default it will try to help you out by triggering the built in flash. Problem is, in most situations the built in flash is. . . ugly. Flat, red eye and weird highlight producing. Not good. So turn it off! How do you get more light on your subject, you ask? Two options:

• If you’re comfortable with having people wondering what you’re doing carrying your food across the restaurant, move it to a place with more light, like a window or underneath a pendant light.
• Stabilize your hands by leaning in to the table and live with the longer shutter speed.

Either way, your food will look like it belongs in the dining room where you actually are, not some strange brightly-lit netherworld.

Think about what you really like about the food.
Is your steak done just right? Was the reduction sauce spooned artfully around the protein? Is the morel placed just so? Whatever it is that makes you love the dish, take a moment to appreciate it. Then experiment with the angle of the plate and place it on the table in a way that makes that element stand out. Is it a red sauce or garnish? Find a way to include something red in the background to create a repeating color element in the composition. The sheen on a tuna roll? Notice where the lights in the room reflect in the sheen and position the plate appropriately.

Talk to the chef.
If you’re like me, food is entertainment, it’s anthropology, it’s sociology. It’s one of those amazing things that defines a culture and brings it together, and chefs make it happen. They’re rock stars! Taking the time to say hello to the chef gives you insight in to why a good meal was put together the way it was. And the more you know about something, the more you can appreciate it. The more you appreciate it, the better your pictures will be.

Hungry? Please visit my blog for how I use my own tips to produce great food photography. ]]> http://www.chrisbohnhoff.com/blog/2009/05/28/food-photography-tips/feed/ 1