Portrait Presentation Notes

 

Each year, I ask for an area photographer to donate a few hours of their valuable time to share with you some of their experiences.

 

 

Clem Webb and Brandon Gouthier have both been very gracious to donate their time over the years. They have tended to rotate each year, and what they have said each year and each class has varied. Below are the notes from their presentation.

 

 

Clem Webb 2012

 

 

Clem Photography Presentation - 2011  as noted by Drew Loker

Observe - notice things about people. What's important to people? What makes them comfortable, learn to put them at ease.
What type of photography are you doing
Interact - depending on what you are shooting.
People are generally uncomfortable when you pull a camera up. They end up feeling threatened
Be yourself, but learn how to act around people
A tell - an action a person does every time when they have a good hand
Body expression - open vs. closed
FBI profiling
Human behavior is an indicator of human thought
Big difference between taking a picture and making an image
Anybody can take a picture.
People are willing to pay for quality
All of you will benefit from learning how to make better pictures
The impact of photography on our lives is huge, both good and bad
Images persuade us, to think a certain way, to vote, to buy
We are surrounded by
Become a better consumer
Make sure a person doesn't feel threatened
When people laugh, they relax, laughter is the flip side of tears
Empathize - feeling what other people feel. If you can put yourself in another person shoes, you are going to be a better photographer
Getting accustomed to what it is like in front of a camera
What people are really saying when hey don't want a photo taken is that they don't trust you
If a person is insecure, you need to do what you can to make them feel more secure.
No being intimidated by others...everybody puts their pants on 1 leg at a time. Even photography Regan...he was just a man.
Adapt - your approach based on your observation and details of the above.
Be a student of your environment.
Biblical principal of using talents. Faithful in a little transfers to being faithful in a lot. If a person lies about something small, they will lie about big things also.
Being their will to yours
Impact of photography - form so much of our lives. Regardless of what a person does with their photography. Taking good quality photos at different ages.

 

The key concept from his presentation is the important of interacting with people.

 

 

Brandon

 

http://lobamagazine.com/  - don't visit at school.

 

Brandon Gouthier @ bgphoto03@hotmail.com

1275 South Major Drive, Beaumont, TX 77707-2943

(409) 861-0910‎

 

 

 

Brandon Gouthier, 2010 -

      As noted by Drew Loker, transcribed by Jamika M.

 

- Major as Engineer… in the last few semesters realized how dreary life sitting at a desk as an engineer would be...changed to Communications Major with a Minor in Photography.

-  Should be able to tell something about the person when looking at the person

-  Might be able to tell something about the time period

-  Good photo should tell a story

-  Portrait can be anything…does not leave to slow everything. Can just be the mouth, or the eye.   Horizontal vs. vertical, 8x10 4x4 or custom crop

- Report -Uncomfortable at first, don’t trust, don’t know intentions. After a few shots…people will start showing their personality.

- Our job to make a person look good.

- use surroundings

- get it right in the camera’s

- Fireworks -slow the shutter; increase ISO to increase the amount of light recorded, use a flash.

- Use whatever lights are available

- mixed lighting is going to blend both flash and ambient lighting

- light color can be changed to match the tone of day.

- should see some emotion when seeing a picture

- Series of shots will show a lot more than just one shot.

- Get to know people

- Bring the lighting around to the front for thinner faces as this will provide broad lighting. Lighting from the side will provide shadow that will thin out a face.

- Move them around. Turn their body twist hips one way.

- Feature the relationship

- Access is important to getting true emotional shots.

- Hanging out with the people you want to shoot is key to getting good pictures, eating with them. Such as photographing the music industry. You might get a good shot, but you aren’t going to get the really meaningful images showing great insight.

- Clever idea to use the lens hood turned at an angle to force vignetting.

- If 2 catch lights remove one of them to give the person better focus on what they are looking at.

- Use backlights as the background

- Show lighting

- Shoot through things

- Get people to do crazy things.

- Shoot angles

- Incorporate symbolism into the picture

- You don’t have to show the face

- Let people see the pictures you are taking to help them feel more comfortable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clem Webb's Contact Info:

2415 Laurel Avenue
Beaumont, TX  77702

www.Clemwebb.com  or   www.ClemWebministries.org

838-4832

 

 

 

Many thanks to Mr. Clem Webb who has graciously taken his time for several years to spend a day with my photography classes as well as serve as a judge in our end of year competition at Parkdale Mall.

 

Over the years, Mr. Webb has shared many pearls of wisdom mixed with some great technical details. I have taken some notes to help summarize for those who missed the presentation.

 

Clem Webb - 2009

As noted by Drew Loker, transcribed by Laquiesha B.

 

A site he referred to:  http://www.artcenter.edu/

   

 

Intro

• Loves being a photographer because he gets to do what he loves
• Whatever you do…enjoy what you do
• Likes to help people to take better pictures…started a mission project to help train missionaries to do a better job of putting the human face on the people they are trying to help
• Rafiq Ali- a missionary from Trinidad – a Muslim converted to Christianity
  • Listed out equipment he needed, one such item was a digital camera
  • Mr. Webb was able to donate a Olympus E20…a very nice camera of it’s day to help Rafiq’s start documenting his efforts.

 

 

Photographing People

• Don’t care for the hit and run style of photography
• 1^st thing to do is put people at ease…. They are relating to you.
  • A lot of psychology is involved
  • The camera intimidates them and they behave different.
  • Using humor, like acting silly, is one way to get people to relax
• We all have different faces
  • We all wear different masks for our parents, preachers, friends, teachers, and those we don’t like
  • When a camera is pointed toward us, we want to put our good face on.
  • Some people feel like they have to look a certain way
• The camera can’t see depth because it has only one eye

 

How to Get a Good Picture

• Environmental pictures are one way
• People like to stay in control- laughter is a sign of loss of control
  • Laughing photographs are not that great but they set the stage for the ones with life…when people will have real emotion in their smile.
  • Laughing helps people relax
  • Tears and laughter help relive emotion- pressure relievers
  • Laughing hysterically - makes you feel better
• After many years of photographing weddings…
  • Able to group those who let me in from those who didn’t
  • Many brides let us in to their inner circle. They would tell us the way things were…not how they wished they were.
  • We start as a voyeur...one who is outside looking in. If I do a good job, I’ll be one of them.
• Get them to relax in front of the camera
  • It is easy to capture a picture of what a person looks like. But if you get to know a person...you are trying to get their personality to shine through
  • Learn to relate to people well
  • Find a common ground
  • Learn how to elicit a response
  • Self effacing - Portray ones self down – is not necessarily a good thing, but may help lessen any intimidation they may feel from the camera
  • Use an ice breaker – I use my shoes
• Learning lighting is learning how to make it look natural
  • Hal Adams…”know what the rules are…before you can break them”
• Every body sees the world differently…has their own visions
  • Can’t take a picture that says nothing
  • Your up bringing gives you a unique view
    • Once you develop the technical skills, your view will flow from your pictures
• Difference between a snap shot and very fine illustration is a very fine line

 

Questions answered during the day

• Why did you want to be a photographer? Started out wanting to be a preacher. Went to a school in Alaska and learned of his passion for photography.
  • Learned from his dad a biblical saying: “Secret to life and happiness is enjoying the use of your hands” Ecclesiastes
• Pros only show you’re their good stuff

• Some photographers are content with series of happy mistakes
  • Know your craft well enough to reproduce it
• The more comfortable you are in front of the camera the more comfortable you will be behind the camera
• People can fake a smile and fake you out but when the pictures come back you will know they weren’t comfortable
• Become a student of human nature
  • Learn how people respond to different situations. You can learn to generalize about people and how to react by watching.
  • Waiting tables is an excellent way to learn about people.
• Learning about photography is developing a skill set that will enrich your life
  • Avoid the bull’s-eye.
  • Check your corners
• Learn to trust your instincts, your own judgment, know it’s a good image
  • “You know it’s a good image, you are just not sure if other will like it.”

 

 

Clem Webb 2008