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Joyce Tenneson Character Portrait Photographer Joyce's Tips & Techniques Article rating: 6.74

To learn how she does it, read the captions with the photographs below and you will gain insight on how to help your subjects/family members to feel more comfortable posing for your portrait session or just casual shots at home or on vacation.

This approach may provide the subject with the comfort level to do something that would ordinarily make them self-conscious.

Carol King is a well-known singer, so in this case, Joyce asked her to start singing. It helped carol to relax as Joyce set up her camera equipment. Then they began to talk and King opened up. As a person relaxes, it gets easier to get them to express something a little deeper, because they drop the mask that most people wear on a day-to-day basis. The best shot turned out to be one where Carol was creating a special energy by embracing herself. 

As Joyce waited in line for a lecture to begin at Riverside Church after 9/11, she noticed these two nuns waiting in line close by. Joyce felt that they were not only wonderful looking, but reminded her of some of her aunts growing up.  She approached them and asked if they would allow her to photograph them for Wise Women. Joyce learned that they have been with an Episcopalian order of nuns for over 30 years as teachers. As Joyce worked to make them comfortable in the studio, she decided to ask them to get as close together as real sisters  which they certainly were. Joyce says that they felt more comfortable with this pose than being photographed alone.

While Joyce was photographing for Wise Women at a senior citizen home in Sacramento, California, she happened to notice Elva Azzara. Joyce felt that Elva was fragile like a bird, with beautiful hands. As she photographed she asked Elva to tell her readers something personal and she closed her eyes to think. At that moment, Joyce pushed the shutter release and caught a very special moment. Also note how beautiful the long and delicate fingers look as they are outstretched and framing her face. When Elva opened her eyes she said, “I can still remember what it feels like to love with all my heart”.  Joyce thought it made a wonderful ending to the book.  This photograph and sentence is the last page in “Wise Women”. 

TIP: FIND THE BEST VIEW/ANGLE OF YOUR SUBJECT.

Joyce wrote to Angela Lansbury’s publicist in Los Angeles telling them about the Wise Women project. Joyce wanted to see what the real Lansbury was like and found someone that was sophisticated and elegant. In general, Joyce tries to decide how the subject may look the most interesting from the front, direct eye contact, 3/4, or the side and then perfect that position so that it has the strongest view and telling about their personalities.

This was an assignment for Entertainment Weekly Magazine for a section called The Greats. Props are another way to make a subject feel comfortable. In this case Taylor’s guitar case came in handy and had an appropriate shape to add to the overall composition of the picture. Obviously, a guitar case is a prop that Taylor relates to and one that enhances his persona. Undoubtedly, many of the people who you photograph have hobbies and special talents. Find props that tell that story and simultaneously give the subject a boost of confidence, not to mention something to hold so they don’t feel unsure of what to do with their hands.

Shot for the New York Times Magazine in Yankee stadium, Joyce had to quickly find out information on each of the players she was to photograph. Jeter is a heartthrob for a lot of young girls, so she teased him in a fun way about how it must feel to be a heartthrob and he started to laugh. A good technique is to get people to laugh to relax. Of course, the ball and glove helped in the same way that Taylor’s image was enhanced with a guitar case. 

Larissa’s amazing timeless quality reminded Joyce of a flower so she wanted to isolate her face like the center of a flower. Larissa is not a model, but a Russian beauty that was recommended by a friend when Joyce was looking for women from different countries to photograph. The headdress is creative and results in an exotic quality for the subject.

Eve had such a sense of timelessness that Joyce thought it could be exemplified with props such as angel wings, which happened to be lying around the studio.  To further enhance the old-world appeal, Joyce put a bandana made of gauze on the model. 

While teaching a portrait workshop in New Jersey, Joyce wanted to use 6-year-old Sally for demonstration in a class on how to use outdoor light. A white fill card was used to add more light in her face, but Sally was quite fidgety and giggly. Sound familiar? Joyce looked around and found some leaves on the ground, which solved one problem, but made the giggling worse! The giggles stopped when Joyce asked Sally to close her eyes. Sally also has beautiful hair, which at the time, was in pigtails. The no-brainer was to let Sally’s hair down.  

Tenneson says that sometimes she gets people to relax by simply talking about what they like most. Taking cues from her subjects is something else that can help in coming up with different concepts that will make an image more interesting than a simple snapshot as in the case of the two nuns. 

You can see more work by Joyce Tenneson at her website www.tenneson.com. You can also purchase books, her work and learn how to be apart of the many charities that she participates in.  Look for Joyce’s newest book which is due out on April 15, 2003 entitled: “Flower Portraits: The Life Cycle of Beauty”.

JE

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I am new to serious Digital Photography, although I have owned two point and shoot Digital Camers with limited zoom lenses in the past and use Photo Shop 7 and Paint Shop Pro on my computer to enhance my shots. I have recently purchased a Sony DSLR A100 to compliment my Konica/Minolta add-ons; and have been utilizing a 2G CF card at 10 Fine - I just want to be better at it. Posted by: J. McGuirk Jan 1, 2008 @ 1:56 PM EST

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