Portrait photography requires a level of trust, intimacy and spontaneity that other types of photography work simply do not. Your subject can often also be less than comfortable with one of these elements, so as a photographer, it’s important to have a failsafe routine in place that you know is going to produce great results, whether you know the subject or not.
Talk
First of all, it’s always worth having a conversation beforehand. Have some specifics in mind when speaking to the subject, such as what they hope to get out of the experience and how they want the end result to look. Try to keep...