Seeing and Feeling the Light

Working as a portrait photographer in south Florida - specifically in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties - has yielded tremendous benefits: working close to the beaches.  Warm balmy days and bright beaches are things I am appreciative for daily.  Imagine being able to open your window blinds daily and be greeted with the smile of the sun kissing your face. 

When I moved from busy New York City one of my desires was to become a photographer in Miami. I thought it would be a real easy task: bring my client to one of the beaches, place them in the warm natural sunlight and voila: a beautiful capture.  Man, was I wrong.  As I look back on some of my portrait photography work, there were instances, where the lighting on many of my subjects' faces was mottled and in other instances the light was too harsh. I didn't know how to light my subjects without blinding them nor did I have the knowledge or understanding of what my clients needs were.  I just thought to myself, the sun is out and putting my subject over against that rock would a nice place to take a photograph. No consideration to what the light was doing or distracting elements in the background; just point and shoot.

I have since read many articles on what light is and how to manipulate it by shaping it, diffusing it and balancing it.  The greatest revelation to me, as a portrait photographer, was learning to see and feel light.  By feeling my client's light, it became easier for me to photograph and light them physically. What do I mean? Let me to explain.

Let’s begin with the simple question of, what is “LIGHT?” Light is defined as “something that makes vision possible” it also means “a sensation aroused by stimulation of the visual receptors.” (If you want more information about arousing your visual receptors, I am going to defer to your local optometrist or ophthalmologist.)  But let’s take the look at another definition of LIGHT. LIGHT is “ENERGY.” Actually, LIGHT is a form of RADIANT energy. RADIANT means glowing; to show exuberance or elation.

Some of you reading this may say, what is this man talking about? What does this have to do with photography? Well, let me drop some more information on you! My belief is that in order to photograph with light one must SEE and FEEL the LIGHT - of your client first. This process begins with the pre-consultation process. Let’s explore this further. SEE means I must “come to know” my client. How do I achieve this?  I achieve this by LISTENING to my client’s story. By asking the correct questions, I am able to develop a mental image of what I may want to create for them. This process is especially critical if I am being commissioned to create a portrait. I look for what makes them excited; what makes them glow, become exuberant and full of joy.

Don’t be afraid to ask your client about the relationship they have with their spouse and what make them happy; how did they first meet? I ask if there are any memorabilia that they would like to include in the portrait. It may be a bracelet from a relative that brings a smile to their face; a gown from their mother may give them pause and reflect; a watch or a necktie from their father or simply a handwritten letter may make them cry. If you are not getting to know your client and listening to their story, you are missing out on a great opportunity to build a solid foundation for a lasting relationship and to grab jewels of information that would help make the mental picture, you are creating, of your client more complete.

This information is vital to assisting the photographer in creating a stellar image, for your client, that would be cerebrated for generations to come. Hopefully you can see that the pre-consultation process (which I hope you take advantage of), is where you should begin to SEE —the clients — LIGHT radiate from within them. FEEL means to get an intuitive sensation about them: a certain VIBE. Building a trusting relationship with your client by listening to their story and connecting with them is the tantamount to laying the cornerstone of a building: its' all up from there. You should be to able to gain a real intuitive sense about them and whether they are a good fit for you or not. Who knows, this could potentially be a Bridezilla or Groomzilla. Guess what, while you are listening to your client and seeing if they are a good fit for you they are getting an intuitive sense of your character and seeing if working with you would be a good fit for them. How many of you have a pre-consultation session with your client or do you just accept the job and hope for the best? Remember that you are running a business and in many instances prequalifying your clients will, in the long-run, saves you from unnecessary grief and wasted efforts. Imagine working as a bank branch manager that loans money without properly prequalifying the person. How long would you last as that bank branch manager? How long would that bank be in business?  Hmmmm — NOT LONG! After the word gets out that your bank branch gives loans without pre-qualification, the entire neighborhood would be at the door sucking the energy and money out of your coffers. This is not the way to run a business: lots of traffic coming through the doors but barely generating any income. So it's important to get to know your client through the pre-consultation process to see if they are a good fit for your business. So for me as a portrait photographer in Miami and South Florida, using the beautiful sunlight to physically light a client becomes a bit easier and makes more sense after I have taken the time to find out about them. Simply saying to your client — “stand over there” — and having them pay you $100 for a CD or thumb drive with pictures is fruitless and a waste of time. Heaven help those with such a business model. Once again, it is much better to take your time, get to know your client, listening to their story and then you will have a better understanding of what their needs are and how you can best serve them. Listening and Connecting to your client is the key.

As you can hopefully see, the pre-consultation process is a fundamental process to which entails SEEING and FEELING the LIGHT.  It doesn't matter whether you are a portrait photographer in Miami, South Florida, a wedding photographer in New York or any other part of the world, the pre-consultation process is vital to your workflow.  The information I gather during this process helps me decide how I am going to proceed with posing them, and lighting them, to create something stunningly beautiful which will ultimately hang in their home or office: in a place special to them where the art will thrive.  Sounds like a lot of work?  It really isn't because from this effort, your client will, hopefully,  provide you with referrals, show off your work to family and friends that come into their home.  More importantly, they will probably become one of your biggest advertisers by spreading the word that you took the time to listen to their story: something that money can’t buy.