Humor is one of my best techniques to relax a subject.
Of all the types of photography I’ve experienced, informal portraits are my favorite. I really enjoy capturing a person or group in their “natural surroundings” relaxed, being themselves. I was just reading an article in Popular Photography titled “7 Pro Tips for Better Portraits“, which got me thinking about some of the casual portraits I’d taken in the past. So I’ve gathered a few of them here to share with you, and invite you to read the Pop Photo article.
One of my favorite portraits, this is Dad in his workshop, March, 2010.
It’s easy to capture the dynamics of a group, when they really enjoy being together.
I normally crop in close for portraits, but the environment can add color and help tell the story.
Maybe you’ll want to dig out some of your favorite portraits, or better yet, go out and shoot some new ones. Either way, we’d love to see your work. Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.
2 Guys Photo 
These are some fantastic portraits, Ed. You’ve really captured something about each subject. It would be great to see some of our readers’ informal portraits as well.
Rey
I agree. Fantastic Ed. Portraits are the one area of photography I wish I was better at. I usually resot to putting my camera on ‘portrait’ mode to take portrait photos, rather than manual mode which is where I try to take most of my photos. Any suggestions for manual portrait photography?
Thanks Rodney. That’s a good topic for a future post. Let me noodle on that… Ed