portraits and personality

one of the toughest things about taking portraits is trying to really capture the person's... well...."personality" (for lack of a better word). and oftentimes we are given such a short period of time before and during the shoot to do it. for research's sake i tried a little experiment with my new friend kim here. (she's a fellow photographer and much more experienced and talented than i--so no stress right??!!! ha!) check out her website: http://www.kimnodurft.com/

i took some portraits of her after just having a few minutes of time together and then some after we'd had lunch and some time to get to know one another.

the results were interesting. just as i had expected--the ones taken after lunch were much more expressive and honest. she gave me a better glimpse of her personality after we'd spent time together too. not a huge surprise but very interesting to document. i really connected with her but was stressed about photographing (or trying to) such an accomplished and talented photographer.

as a budding new photographer, i strive to see beyond the fake smiles that we all put on and get deeper quickly. i want the subject to feel at ease with me, and, more importantly, with themselves. when the eyes glimmer with personality and confidence i feel like i've gotten through at least one of the many walls we all put up on a daily basis--let alone the ones we put up when a huge camera is in our face!

kim was and is so wonderful. she drips of personality, kindness and honesty. i love so much about her and wanted her feel comfortable quickly. i really liked the portraits although i admit that i probably over processed some of them. i think the lovely and talented person that she is came through in several of these. and we did both mini sessions in about 30 minutes total. not too bad.

what do you think?