Eyes Are Windows To The Soul in Great Portrait Photos
Eyes are windows to the soul in great portrait photos.
Have you heard the old saying that the eyes are windows to the soul? Here's how I go about ensuring great eye contact in the portrait photos I create.
The idea that eyes are windows to the soul is a critical consideration when making portrait photos. Ensuring the subject’s eyes are open, illuminated and looking directly into the camera’s lens ensures an emotively compelling connection with the photographer and, by extension, the viewing audience.
Let’s explore the reasons why it’s of critical importance to ensure your subject’s eyes become a major point of focus in the portrait photos you create.
Table of Contents:
Connect With Your Subject to Ensure Great Portrait Photos
I made this photo of a young woman, inside a former artist retreat in Melbourne, Australia. I feel it’s a really compelling image, underpinned by the subject’s relaxed, open and trusting demeanor.
Our subject is being observed, but her power exists in the fact that she’s looking straight back at the viewer. Historically, that’s not often the way it worked in typical voyeuristic portrait paintings or photos from years gone by.
While her self assuredness is evident in the relaxed angle of her face and neck, the success of this image resides in the subjects eyes, gazing directly back at the camera and, as a consequence, at the viewer.
And it’s that very direct relationship, that’s been formed between subject and viewer, that’s key to the success of this image.
You see, when you look into her eyes, a direct connection between you and the subject is established. You begin to read her and, perhaps, you might even start to think you understand something about her beyond what is evident by her age, gender, clothes and the environment in which she’s been depicted.
Great Portrait Photos: Strobe or Reflector?
I made the photo on an overcast day. The weather’s important because, if the outdoor light was much brighter, the subjects face would have photographed considerably darker than it did.
That’s simply what happens in photography. If your subject is backlit, and no other light is directed at them, they’ll photograph darker than how you perceived them when you made the original photo.
Actually, I needed to employ a reflector, to bounce light into her face and reduce the dynamic range of the scene so that she didn’t photograph too dark.
While I could have used fill flash to achieve a similar result, it’s not quite the same thing and, when given the chance, I prefer using a reflector.
Because of the greater physical size of the reflector, it becomes a significantly larger light source than a portable strobe/flash. And the larger the light source, the softer the quality of the light it emits or, in this case, reflects back towards the subject.
Outside certain kinds of street, documentary or advertising photography, soft light is what you want. It renders the subject depicted in a far more flattering manner than smaller, hard light sources and is a defining factor in producing great portrait photos.
However, as I hardly ever work with an assistant, fill flash provides a reasonable and useful alternative. What’s more, reflectors, even when folded down, fill up valuable space in a camera backpack.
I still keep a reflector in the boot of my car but, other than that, it simply became too much of a hassle for me to take one on overseas travel photography adventures.
How Composition Contributes to Great Portrait Photos
The gentle, full tonal scale of the image balances beautifully with the intensity of her gaze.
The diagonal angle at which I asked her turn her head is also interesting as diagonal lines have long been described as both feminine and dynamic. When I say femine I’m not referring to gender, but to a more gentle aspect of humanity.
As mentioned, diagonal lines are also described as dynamic. You can see this evidenced in the reporting of particular stocks or in graphs that illustrate general trends in the stock market.
Novice monk photographed against a gold leaf covered temple pillar in Myanmar.
Eyes of a Novice Monk in Myanmar
The above image was made while on a photography adventure to Myanmar (i.e., Burma) way back in December 1999. Needless to say the photo was made with film, in this case 120 medium format film.
I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph this young, novice monk inside a beautiful temple, not far away from the historic and culturally important city of Mandalay.
The room in which the photo was made was a large, dark space. Outside light entered through a window and was diffused as it reflected off gold leaf covered pillars, teak walls and floors.
From experience, I knew this kind of environment offered opportunities for really great portrait photos. Fortunately, the young lad in question was eager to help out and, by the end of the process, our combined efforts resulted in several really lovely portrait photos.
The more surfaces the light reflects off the larger and, therefore, softer it becomes. With this in mind, I carefully positioned the novice in such a way that allowed the soft, reflected light to illuminate his face.
Without any common language, I held eye contact while gesturing to him to move exactly where I needed him to be.
While the quality of light was beautiful, the levels of illumination in that space were very low. Given the relatively low sensitivity of the film I was using, I had to employ a tripod and a 4-second exposure to make this particular portrait photo.
How to Ensure The Eyes Are Sharp In Long Exposure Portraits
During a long exposure it can be difficult to achieve a sharp result. Modern DSLR and Mirrorless cameras allow you to increase the ISO, often with no discernible loss of image quality, to achieve a reasonable exposure for hand held photos.
Likewise, medium and telephoto focal length lenses offer image stabilization (vibration reduction) technology to reduce camera shake, allowing you to make lovely, delicately lit portraits under very low levels of illumination.
Alternatively, some camera systems offer in camera stabilization, while others offer a combination of the two technologies.
Believe me, any kind of image stabilization technology provides a massive advantage to photographers working under low light conditions. Needless to say, it makes the creation of truly great portrait photos much quicker and easier than was the case in years gone by.
Unfortunately, I had no such technology available to me when I made this picture. What’s more, by today’s standards, you’d probably consider it to be slightly unsharp.
The depth of field is incredibly shallow and I suspect the young lad moved, ever so slightly, during the 4-second exposure.
Nonetheless, it’s sharp enough and I remember printing a 16x16 inch (40x40 cm) enlargement, from the original negative, for an exhibition I was putting together at the time.
Actually, the scan made from this negative is old and, frankly, not the best quality. One day I’II have it rescanned and I’ll process the resulting file with the aid of one or more modern applications that will produce a sharper and more luminous result.
These days I rarely use a tripod for portrait photography. However, back in my days as a medium format film photographer, the fact that I was working with big, heavy cameras and relatively low sensitivity films gave me little choice.
Even though tripods are a hassle, particularly when it comes to airplane travel and having to lug them through airports and on extended walks, they’re a great advantage when it comes to constructing an optimal composition.
Not only that, I can tell you that the person you’re photographing often takes the whole process much more seriously, and will provide you with a level of patience that’s hard to expect when creating handheld portrait photos.
That is, of course, assuming you can actually use a tripod and don’t make a mess of the process. To avoid such a debacle, be sure to practice using your tripod until you’ve ensured you can operate it quickly and efficiently.
When I do need to use a tripod, I employ a clever little technique from by days working with film, that I’m happy to share with you here. This technique dramatically reduces the likelihood of subject movement, during the exposure, and enables me to achieve great eye contact in the resulting photo.
First of all, I ensure my subject is positioned correctly and my composition, camera and lens settings have been finalized.
Next, I move my head, ever so slightly, to one side of the camera and hold my index finger up, in front of my face and parallel to the lens. The tip of my finger becomes the front point in a triangle, with each of my eyes becoming the back points.
To ensure the subject’s attention is maintained, and the chance of blinking or movement is reduced, I hold their gaze during the camera’s exposure.
With the cable release or remote trigger held in my other hand, I ask the subject to focus their attention on my finger. This enables me to hold their attention, keep them from moving and ensure they look where I need them to while I make the photo.
Because my raised finger is held so close to the lens, the subject will appear to be looking directly at you, the viewer.
This creates a very intimate viewing experience, which can only heighten the emotive power of the photo.
Of course, I usually just tell the subject to look directly into the lens. But, as a travel photographer, I’ve found it’s not always possible to keep the subject from moving or to extract the expression and connection I’m after when working this way.
And, with no common language, I’ve found the alternate technique I’ve described above works a treat. So long as I have a tripod with me.
As mentioned previously, fixing the subject’s attention helps keep them still during a relatively long exposure, ensuring sharper eyes and a stronger connection between subject and viewer.
It’s a critical factor when you’re working to create great portrait photos.
Monk, tortured by the Khmer Rouge, at the Bayon, Angkor Wat, Cambodia.
Windows to the Soul and Square Format Portrait Photos
Here’s a photo I made of a monk at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I can’t be completely sure of the date, but I believe it was created in around 1992.
I remember, as though it was yesterday, making this photo. I carefully composed the image, within a deliberately tight composition, to draw attention to the monk’s face and eyes. I then asked him to look directly towards me.
Through an interpreter, the monk told me he’d got that nasty scar on his face by being tortured, as a child, by soldiers in the Khmer Rouge.
I’d like to think a small part of that experience, no doubt seared into his memory, comes through in this photo.
The original image was made with the following:
Hasselblad 503 CWi camera.
Hasselblad 150 mm Sonnar f/4 lens.
Kodak Professional Portra 160VC film, rated at an Exposure Index (EI) of 80.
The camera in question is a medium format camera that accepts 120 film. Like most film-based Hasselblad cameras, images are square and measure approximately 2 ¼ x 2 ¼ inches (6 cm x 6 cm) in size.
“I loved the square format associated with classic Hasselblad cameras. I found it unbiased and, in the case of head and shoulder portraits, a great way to concentrate attention on the subject.”
About to Travel?
Sharpness Versus Resolution in Great Portrait Photos
When compared to 35 mm film, the larger size of medium format film provides better resolution and greater enlarging capabilities.
Back in the day I’d frequently print 16” x 16” (i.e., 40 cm x 40 cm) color and black and white prints, made on my Hasselblad medium format cameras, for exhibition in cafes and galleries.
This isn’t to say that medium format images are, necessarily, sharper than those made on 35 mm film.
You see, sharpness is really a measure of micro contrast that’s created along a line of demarcation between very dark and very light areas. Mostly noticeably, you’ll see this kind of separation occurring either side of an edge.
For example, the edge where a table top, lit from above, meets a shaded lip on the edge of the table.
Resolution, on the other hand, is a measure of a particular film’s ability to resolve fine details.
So, while it might be possible to print a 35 mm negative or transparency really, really large, a lot of subtle detail might be lost in the process.
I think folks often confuse sharpness with resolution. So I hope you find that explanation of the difference between the two to be helpful.
While I no longer have a film based camera to make photos I have loads of 35 mm and medium format images in my archives. I plan to scan many of them, over coming years, and to share them with you here, on this site.
I loved using film and I was comfortable working in a darkroom. In fact, there’s lots of posts I plan to write covering analogue photography and processing.
However, given the choice between summer day’s spent in the dark and working with digital images on my 27” Mac computer, it’s an easy choice for me to make.
What’s more it’s just so much easier, and far cheaper, traveling the world with a digital camera compared to carrying large bundles of film and getting them through airport security without being scanned.
Man, I’m so glad those days are over for me.
Relaxed portrait of a young man in Melbourne.
Creating Great Portrait Photos: A Simple Approach
Even at a distance, occupying a small part of a larger scene, a face is like a beacon for the viewer’s attention.
The face is a natural point of interest, especially when it’s been directed towards the camera.
Body language and gesture are important elements in story telling. However, it is to the face, particularly the eyes, where we look in order to discover a sense of someone’s personality, thought’s and intentions.
The notion that the eyes are windows to the soul is a lovely concept. But the eyes are also very powerful tools, that great portrait photographers make use of, to make really beautiful and evocative portraits.
Have no doubt, the most compelling portraits usually occur when the subject is looking straight into the camera’s lens and, as a consequence, straight at the viewer.
Intuitively drawn towards the subject’s face, the photographer places emphasis on the subject’s eyes and makes them the main focal points within the image in the following ways:
Ensures light is illuminating the eyes.
Employs critical focusing to drawn attention to the eyes.
Uses a shallow Depth Of Field (DOF) to de-emphasize other areas of the image and, by doing so, places further emphasis on the subject’s eyes.
Uses composition to place attention on one of the eyes, often at an axis point on the rule of thirds.
I think you’ll agree, all of those factors are evident in the above photo of a participant in a portrait photography workshop I presented in Melbourne.
It was a very quick photo to make, thanks to his easy going nature and relaxed body language.
The distribution of tones (i.e., levels of brightness) within the image made it a great candidate for black-and-white, and also contributed to the quiet mood I’ve been able to showcase in this lovely portrait.
Kostya Tszyu, Australian icon and four time world boxing champion, in Melbourne.
Ensure the Eyes are Lit in Portrait Photos
Light is of critical importance to the success of our photos. In portrait photography, except for a deliberate silhouette, you almost always need to ensure that the face, particularly the eyes, are lit.
For this photo of four time world boxing champion, Kostya Tszyu, I did what I love to do: move the subject out of direct sunlight into what’s referred to as open shade.
Open shade diffuses the light, lowering both it’s intensity and, as long as the background isn’t too much brighter than the subject, the overall scene brightness range. This enables detail in all but the brightest highlights and the very darkest shadows.
Following this simple technique will dramatically reduce squinting, dark shadows under the eyes and bright specular highlights on the subject’s forehead.
The result, as you see in this photo of Kostya, is a gentle, flattering light source under which to create great portrait photos.
While I love making portraits under soft lighting, it’s true that it’s not always the most appropriate quality of light for the required outcome.
There is a particular hard-edged, street and photojournalistic style of photography that aims to highlight a subject’s character, or the hardships of life, by photographing people under hard, direct light.
This may be influenced by the fact that it was under such lighting that the photographer first noticed the subject.
If well made, the resulting images can be strong, moody and compelling.
Needless to say, such images are unlikely to present a pleasing likeness of the subject.
However, as they’re not made for the subject or their mother (as is the case with wedding and portrait photography), that may not be considered essential to the success of the story being told.
Such photography is made for a wider audience, such as a magazine, and it is the readership and, therefore, the editor that determines the look of most images published in that space.
Exposing for the face pushed a potentially distracting background to near white.
How I Choose To Make Portrait Photos
The approach that I prefer, for the portrait photography I undertake, is to make beautiful, life affirming images. That fact is clearly evidenced in this portrait of a young boy in an orphanage on St Thomas Mount, near Chennai in India.
I visited the orphanage to witness, first hand, the good work and care provided to the young children under its care. The kids seemed to be happy, well fed and safe.
The happiness and safety of the children was particularly important to me, given the horrible treatment teachers and other staff inflicted upon me during my own primary and secondary education.
While I don’t hide evidence of poverty, illness or old age in the portrait photos I create, I do choose to highlight more positive aspects associated with the human condition.
And these aspects are universal, knowing no boundaries of race, gender, politics, religion, relative affluence, fashion or technology.
What Intentions Underpin the Portrait Photos You Make?
While both hard and soft lighting can produce compelling images, the decision as to what message is to be communicated is largely up to the photographer.
With that said, it’s important to carefully consider your own intentions prior to embarking on a major portrait photography project.
And, whatever you do, unless you’re specifically taking unflattering, candid street photography, avoid approaching strangers while shooting from the hip.
As a travel photographer, I take a moment to introduce myself and ask for permission to make a few photos. Where necessary, and it usually is, I’ll move the subject into softer, more flattering light prior to making a few, quick pics and moving on.
I’m very clear about the kind of portrait photos I want to make, and what it is those photos reveal about the subjects depicted and my own motivations and intentions for photographing them.
As a result, I’m able to approach perfect strangers with confidence and a strong desire to make authentic and really great portrait photos.
Take Control Back From the Machine to Make Great Portrait Photos
At some level we all make decisions every time we squeeze the camera’s shutter release.
Because so many folks don’t understand how to use their camera properly, they give into the machine by letting it make almost all of the decisions for them.
All they do is to turn the camera on, point it at the subject and push the button. That’s how they choose to make photos.
What’s more, because batteries are rechargeable and memory cards reusable, so many more pictures are made than in the days of film.
The theory being that, the more photos you make, the better they’ll become.
But, when you surrender control to the machine, that simply won’t be the case.
“The camera is a machine. It has no empathy, no understanding of life and no ability to communicate with the subject you’re trying to portray.”
Would you like to create life affirming portrait photos that, despite the obvious hardships experienced by the subject in question, celebrate the more positive aspects of life?
Love
Family
Community
Hard Work
Sacrifice
Affinity with nature
Spiritual abundance
If you live in or around Melbourne, Australia you might be interested in learning the craft of travel photography, particularly relating to portraits, from me.
If you’re interested, just click on the advertisement above for all the details.
Portrait of a brown hooded woman against a green background in Beijing.
Power of Composition in Great Portrait Photos
I met this young, Chinese woman in Beijing. She was working at the entrance gates to a local attraction. It was the middle of winter and bitterly cold. In fact, we seemed to be the only two people there, which gave me the opportunity to approach her and ask permission to make a photo.
With no common language, I simply gestured with my camera that I’d life to photograph her. She seemed happy to oblige, but kept the face mask in place, obscuring a chance that a smile would form part of the image.
What’s more, having a willing participant won’t, by itself, ensure a great portrait photo.
Even though it was winter, and any warmth from the sun was appreciated, she was squinting. That was enough to kill the picture but, added to that, the background was really bland and wasn’t going to contribute to a good photo.
I approached her, not because she looking particularly photogenic or because her surroundings suggested a great portrait photo would result. I just felt it would be fun to try.
Once I’m given permission to make a photo I believe I’m given permission to take control, with the added responsibility to produce a really good result.
Two simple, but absolutely critical moves were made to turn an uninteresting subject and background into a pretty decent portrait. And the entire process was achieve in just a few exposures over about a 30 second time frame.
To ensure the subject stopped squinting, and was able to open her eyes, I asked her to move a few steps out of the sun into what’s known as open shade.
The light that reaches the subject is now more diffuse, and of a much softer quality, than would have been the case if I’d made the photo of her standing in bright sunlight.
I could immediately tell that she didn’t want to move out of the sunlight. So I gestured to her that, not only would the background be better, but her face would look even more beautiful if she did so.
Sometimes, I demonstrate this fact by swapping positions with a subject and showing them how horrible I look in bright sunlight and what a difference standing in open shade makes.
It’s amazing how cooperative they suddenly become.
The second reason this picture works is because of the composition. The crescent shape of the fur around her parka, together with the texture and the warm yellow browns within that shape, really stand out against the wonderful deep green background and her stark black clothing.
The fact that she’s wearing a face mask doesn’t bother me, as the picture is now not so much about her. It’s still a portrait, but not so much about a particular individual. If anything it’s more universal than that, describing life in Beijing on a winter’s day.
To take this conversation one step further, I’d say the structure in this image is so important that the photo is also a study in composition. Which, to my mind, doubles its power.
Of course, mobile photos and smaller, more compact cameras make the process of making pictures faster and easier these days. However, with the obvious advantages this offers, negative consequences follow that need to be managed.
The speed and relative cost advantages associated with digital cameras can have an adverse affect on composition.
For example, the quicker you are at pushing the button, the less time you’ll have for careful, considered composition.
This is particularly the case when holding the camera away from your body and composing a photo on the camera’s Liquid Crystal Display (LCD).
As a consequence, your ability to steady the camera and reduce camera shake by holding it up against your rock hard skull, is lost.
What’s more, direct light and reflections hitting the screen makes it very hard to control the composition.
As a result, you’ll probably struggle to see the subject’s face clearly, let alone be able to judge the moment when the eyes are illuminated and at their most communicative.
If you’re using your phone as a camera, or if your camera doesn’t have a built in viewfinder, you’ll gain more control over the composition of your photos by moving both you and your subject into the shade.
That said, I have no doubt that camera’s with large and high quality viewfinders make constructing a great composition, in camera, so much easier.
Conclusion: The True Value of Great Portrait Photos
I hope you’ve enjoyed this quite extensive post covering the notion that the eyes are windows to the soul in great portrait photos.
Just remember how critical it is to illuminate the subject’s eyes. By doing so you’ll reveal the color of their eyes and open a window into the subject’s character and personality.
By placing the subject into soft, flattering light, and directing them to look straight into the camera’s lens, you’ll produce a deep a powerful connection with the viewing audience.
Not only are the eyes windows to the soul, they’re also the best way to turn snapshots of individuals into intimate, compelling portraits.
These photos will stand the test of time and enable the person depicted to be remembered for many, many years to come. Therein lies the true value of great portrait photos.
