Portrait Photography
If Nicephore Niepse had not managed to imprint the first image on a photosensitive paper, way back in the late 19th century, we would still be looking at the faces of our beloveds, painted in miniature and grossly exaggerated in terms of beauty and attractiveness. Or, our family paintings, with all of us dressed up in our best would be painted for posterity by artists of the calibre of Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Nevertheless, portrait photography is also an art form and there are some portrait photographers who are almost as skilled as Sir Joshua Reynolds, in making an unattractive physiognomy look most attractive and charming.
They say that the camera does not lie, but portrait photography, along with a little bit of help from software, as Photoshop is quite capable of making your Cyrano de Bergerac type nose look quite squat and snub. It can also give your shallow complexion that perfect Pears soap glow, which you would not achieve in real life even if you washed your face for centuries with Mountain Dew and Denmark lotion.
A successful portrait photograph depends a lot on the skill of the photographer and how involved he is with the subject as well as his experience in taking a portrait photograph. A portrait photograph always entices, attracts, shows some of these characteristics of the individual subtly and leaves an impression upon the mind. A photographer who can display all of these qualities is going to be an extremely successful portrait photographer. He has a rapport with his subject, and can subtly bring out the look of animation and charm, which is going to make up a successful portrait photograph.
