Some people can be perfectly framed and still feel distant. In other portraits you immediately feel that the person is truly there.
I use the word presence often, but I do not mean anything mystical by it. It is mostly about how much attention someone is still giving to the camera.
Posing takes attention
As soon as someone starts thinking about their expression, their hands or which side of the face looks best, something changes. There is nothing wrong with that. Almost everyone does it at first.
Part of my work is to let that attention move elsewhere. Conversation helps. Moving helps. Sometimes quiet helps.
Relaxation is visible
When someone becomes less aware of the camera, small things change. The jaw relaxes, shoulders drop and a look lasts a little longer. Dogs do the same in their own way: they stop reacting to every movement and become themselves again.
These are not spectacular moments. That is precisely why they are useful.
Trust cannot be ordered
I can place the light and suggest a posture, but I cannot instruct someone to be relaxed. A portrait commission therefore gets the time it needs.
The goal is simple: an image in which you do not mainly see the photography, but the person or animal.