I learned that a good portrait is an image of a person that manages to tell a story.

A good portrait evokes emotion.

A good portrait tells us something about the person in the image, and composition is a key element that helps us create a storytelling portrait.

A combination of the scene on the ground and the scene within your head.

To identify visual storytelling potential and decide how much time you’re willing to wait until the story materializes.

Deciding how much background to include

Every image has two people behind it. the photographer and the viewer.

Cropping/framing is important

When someone hires you to take their portraits or headshots, it’s important you understand how to pose them and how to angle their body toward the camera.

The model is still facing you straight on, but you can now have her lean forward from the waist to make a better pose.

The closer your subject is to the light source (open window or door) the larger and more dominant the spark of catch light will seem.

Think carefully about the location of your subject to the light source, as that will not only affect the size and visibility of the catchlight in the subject’s eyes, it will also control the entire Illumination of the subject’s face.

On a sunny day, I recommend positioning your subject in the shade, as gazing at sunny skies might be uncomfortable.

Look for expressions on the subject that capture character.