Today’s Post by Blue Moon Staff
When you stop talking, you’ve lost your customer. When you turn your back, you’ve lost her.—Estee Lauder
Photographing people—especially when making intimate portraits—is not just about the cameras and lighting; it’s mostly about the importance of the interaction between the photographer with their client.
And one of the most important aspects of communicating with a client is getting them to trust the photographer and relax. That’s because any portrait shoot, especially an intimate portrait, is a team effort, which is why before I even pick up a camera the client and I sit down and talk about what you want to accomplish during a shoot. I want clients to feel free to make suggestions about posing and makeup but ultimately allowing me to implement their ideas by applying my experience and talent.
Let me tell you a story: Before Blue Moon Boudoir Photography came into being, my partner 
was doing a bread-and-butter headshot for an employee of a corporate client and the subject didn’t want to smile. No biggie; it happens. When I looked at the photos, I knew the client, the person actually paying for the headshot, would not be happy and sure enough the client asked for and received a re-shoot, this time insisting that her employee cooperate.
How I Made this Portrait:For this portrait of aspiring model Laura May Bachmayer, I treated a 14-inch Fluorescent Dimmable Ring Light like an ordinary studio light and moved it off center to camera left. If you look closely at the subject’s eyes you will see the ring light is reflected as an oval-shaped catchlight because of its position. Camera was a Canon EOS 60D with 85mm f/1.8 lens and an exposure of 1/40 sec at f/1.8 and ISO 400 showing how the use of a fast prime lens allowed me to shoot at a lower ISO than when shooting with slower, zoom lenses.The background is Silverlake Photo’s “Rough Diamond” Colorsmacks
It’s not like that in an intimate portrait session at Blue Moon; you get to call the shots, smile or no smile. In order to achieve the best possible portrait, both subject and photographer need to work together, as I did in this portrait of aspiring model Laura May Bachmayer. Only when we communicate and cooperate will you be able to achieve the goal of producing great-looking intimate portraits.
