Natural Portraiture

I have never been a big portrait photog. However the past couple of years I have been testing my abilities as a portrait shooter. I have been taking pictures of my son (who is 4 now) for the last few years and I get comments from friends that see my images that are encouraging for me to consider extending my business offerings at some   point. Professional portrait photography is not an easy business and the startup cost is quite discouraging. But, it occurred to me that there are  different ways to go about it.
One being the typical studio portrait setup. A large white empty room with several backdrops, props, studio lighting equipment and all the things that make someone who is not a professional model feel a bit uncomfortable. This is not for me for the simple reason that it does not seem fun to me. Nobody looks forward to going to a studio and getting their photo taken.
The other, and my personal favorite is natural portraiture. This can be done anywhere, which allows me to offer a more comfortable and familiar setting for the client.
As a wedding photographer I am largely responsible to shoot wedding portraits. I do not bring a backdrop with me. We usually choose at least two locations, one outdoor if the weather allows and an alternate if the weather does not. Last year I was shooting a wedding, it was a beautiful day and before we began the wedding party portrait session, the groom tells me that he typically does not smile in photos so I am going to have to make him smile. I’m sorry, I am a photographer, not a comedian. You are an adult. If you do not know how to smile for the camera on your wedding day, you may have some explaining to do when your wife sees the photos. My job is to make sure the dress looks good, the flowers are straight and that everyone is positioned perfectly and looking where they should.
I have been getting more and more requests for portrait sessions, so I recently added a portrait section to my portfolio right here. I do not use a studio backdrop or props most of the time, but I do use lights to  make these natural portraits more interesting. The challenge is a bit different, but simple in terms of equipment with this style. Take a well composed shot with a nice backdrop and do not make it look like someone just walked up and took it with a point and shoot pocket camera.
Another thing to note is that if you go to a studio (like target or Baby’s R Us), the lights and props are already set up. You never see the person that is taking the photo mess with the camera settings, and they probably don’t even know how to. All photos are taken with the same lighting and angle. Don’t get me wrong, I have gone to get these done myself. All I am saying is that if you do this every time you get portraits done and put all the portraits next to each other, at some point you will realize that you have the same photos, with simply a difference of age or subject.
I use this example with my wife. We have some pictures to compare from my son’s 3rd birthday. I got him a baseball tee and a bike as his birthday gifts. My wife took him to get a birthday portrait because she is fixated on the props which I don’t have. He is standing next to a big number 3 so that there is no mistake as to how old he is and his smile is clearly fake, but cute and it is still a good picture, because it is my son. The other two pictures are of him hitting the ball of his new tee with a huge smile on his face and riding his new bike with again another big smile. The indication of age is that I know these are his gifts from his 3rd birthday and I know I took them on his birthday. I look at the natural pictures way more than I look at the studio shots. It shows more of his personality and how it has developed over the years. My wife finally decided not to take the kids to get studio shots anymore.
Natural portraits are shot mainly outdoors, the setting in which we are shooting is my backdrop, wherever that may be. I have gone to Plantingfields Arboretum for a family portrait session, I have traveled out of state to shoot executive portraits, and I have even done paid sessions in my back yard. The point is that this can be done anywhere.
When you consider portraits, try and think outside the box and not always associate the studio with the portraits.