How to Get Portraits That Reflect Your Personality
Most people walk into a portrait session hoping to look good.
That’s the wrong goal.
Looking good is a byproduct. What you’re actually after is a photograph that makes someone who knows you well say “that’s exactly you” and makes someone who has never met you want to know more. Those are two very different things from looking presentable in decent light.
Here’s what actually gets you there.
Know what you’re trying to say before you show up
A portrait session without a clear intention produces pleasant images that don’t do much. Before you book anything, spend ten minutes thinking about what you want the photographs to communicate. Not how you want to look. What you want people to feel when they see them.
Are you trying to come across as approachable? Authoritative? Creative? Warm? All of those are valid and all of them require different decisions about location, wardrobe, expression, and tone.
If you’re not sure how to answer that question, start with this one instead. Think about the people you’re trying to reach with these images. What do they need to believe about you before they’ll trust you enough to reach out? Build backward from that.
Tell your photographer what you actually want
This sounds obvious but most people don’t do it. They show up, follow directions, and hope for the best. The sessions that produce something real are almost always the ones where the client came in with a point of view and shared it.
Bring reference images if you have them. Describe the feeling you’re going for even if you can’t articulate exactly what that looks like visually. Talk about what you do, who you serve, and why it matters to you. The more your photographer understands about you as a person, the better the chances they’ll catch something true rather than just something technically correct.
Choose a location that means something
The environment in a portrait does a lot of quiet work. A clean studio background puts all the focus on your face and expression. A location that connects to your work or your life adds context that tells a fuller story.
Neither is better. They serve different purposes. A consultant who works with Fortune 500 companies and a ceramicist who runs a one-person studio are going to need different visual environments to communicate what they do authentically.
Think about where you feel most like yourself. That’s usually a good place to start.
Wear something you’d actually wear
The wardrobe question trips people up more than almost anything else. They either overthink it and show up in something that feels like a costume, or they underthink it and wear something that photographs poorly.
Simple guidance: wear something you already own that makes you feel good when you put it on. Solid colors photograph more cleanly than busy patterns. Bring two or three options so you have flexibility on the day.
What you wear should recede into the background and let you come forward. If you’re thinking about your outfit during the session, it’s the wrong outfit.
Let the session breathe
The best portraits almost never happen in the first fifteen minutes. That time is for warming up, getting comfortable, and stopping thinking so hard about how you look.
The images that feel most alive come from a moment when you forgot you were being photographed. A real laugh at something unexpected. A look you give when you’re thinking about something that genuinely interests you. The particular way you hold yourself when you’re relaxed and present rather than performing.
A good photographer creates the conditions for those moments. Your job is to let them happen rather than trying to manufacture them.
When you’re choosing your images
Look for the ones that feel like you on a good day. Not the most flattering technically, not the one where your hair looks perfect. The ones where something true is happening in your face.
Those are the images that do the work you actually need them to do.
If you’re ready to talk through what a session would look like for you specifically, reach out. The conversation costs nothing and usually answers most of the questions people spend weeks overthinking before they book.
