Connecting With Your Portrait Subjects

Young Buddhist Monk, Ladakh, India

The little monk in the photo above has become one of my best recognized subjects.

He lives at the monastery in the village of Diskit, which lies in the autonomous Tibetan state of Ladakh, in Northern India. I visited Ladakh as part of a Himalayan mountain bike tour, and after pedaling over the 18,380’ Khardung La, the highest pass in the world, we coasted into Diskit and went up to visit the monastery.

We first met the little boy outside the monastery; he was in charge of taking our 10 rupee entrance fee. He had a rather striking appearance, and being excited about creating a great photo, I raised my camera and shot the first photo on the left. As it often happens when you try to photograph portraits of people in foreign countries, he stood up straight and gave me a serious stoic expression, instead of showing his true personality.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the first shot, but I believed that I could capture a more compelling image, so I kept my camera in hand, ready to fire again if I saw anything change.

Rather than wait and try to force an expression,  I let my own guard down. I let the camera drop to my waist, relaxed my demeanor and focused on just being my own easy-going, non-threatening self. Essentially, I let go of my “photographer mentality” and simple became a traveler. I approached him as a little boy not as a “photographic subject.”

Within a few short minutes, we were both making faces at each other and laughing, mostly at my hair, which often sticks straight up in multiple directions, especially after being stuffed inside a bike helmet. Even though we live on opposite sides of the planet, we managed to connect on a basic human level and become comfortable with each other, which ultimately allowed me to shoot the second photo of him.

If I had just concentrated on being a photographer, I never would have been able to capture that image on the right, which has become one of my personal favorites.

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Dan Bailey is a professional adventure, outdoor and travel photographer based in Anchorage, Alaska. Follow his own blog at danbaileyphoto.com/blog and see his daily updates at facebook.com/danbaileyphoto.

Tagged as: Photography, photography tips, Portraits, Tips, travel photography