Interesting portraits can be created anywhere - when you see the light and use a few simple techniques. Take this portrait for instance. Afternoon light was reflecting off a building across the parking lot which created soft, even lighting on this brick wall. I asked the young man to lean against the wall and turn his face toward the camera so the light (reflecting off the building across the parking lot) illuminated one side of his face AND created a shadow on the other side for a more dramatic, slimming effect. Then I focused on his eyes, used a shallow depth of field so the wall would be mostly out of focus and composed the image to create “negative” space on the right-hand side.  The combination of seeing the light, a shallow depth of field, use of negative space and leading lines in the brick wall works together to pull the viewer’s attention right into the young man’s expressive face.
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Interesting portraits can be created anywhere - when you see the light and use a few simple techniques. Take this portrait for instance.

Afternoon light was reflecting off a building across the parking lot which created soft, even lighting on this brick wall. I asked the young man to lean against the wall and turn his face toward the camera so the light (reflecting off the building across the parking lot) illuminated one side of his face AND created a shadow on the other side for a more dramatic, slimming effect. Then I focused on his eyes, used a shallow depth of field so the wall would be mostly out of focus and composed the image to create “negative” space on the right-hand side.  The combination of seeing the light, a shallow depth of field, use of negative space and leading lines in the brick wall works together to pull the viewer’s attention right into the young man’s expressive face.