Reflecting on Portrait Sales
Posted on 26 February 2010
I happen to think my wife is beautiful, so I have always liked pictures of her and shooting her portrait. And it amazes me that she doesn’t even like to have her picture taken, so getting her to pose for shots is a chore. After one particular (rare) sitting, I showed her a bunch of very nice proofs, and she wasn’t thrilled by any of them. They were beautiful portraits, and she couldn’t tell me anything in particular that was wrong, she just didn’t like how they looked. After a little more discussion, she finally said something that struck a cord with me. She said, “That’s just not what I see when I look in the mirror.”
That reminded me of something I had heard years earlier. Many people who are not used to seeing their own picture, only see themselves in the mirror. As a result, they see the reverse of what everyone else sees. Photoshop makes it easy to help these people see themselves the way others see them. Just try the little trick I pulled on my wife…
Give your subject a stack of proof prints to review or show them a slide show of images one at a time (not a sheet of side-by-side images or they’ll figure it out). Make sure that you flip several of the better shots to a mirror image reverse. If they pick a reversed image or two as their favorites, explain to them that the reason they like it is because that’s what they see when they look in the mirror. It’s familiar and comfortable. But be sure to explain that this is not how the public sees them. The rest of the world sees the reverse, so your client should use the mirror image of the one they think is best. Don’t let them keep the wrong/mirror image, even if they really like it. — Obviously if they select a non-flipped image, you’re in the clear.
When my wife was given a stack of images with some reversed images included, I actually heard her say something she’s never said about her portraits, and she was excited! She said, “Now, that’s a good picture! I like that one!”
Do you take portraits of people who aren’t used to seeing their own picture? Mix in a few flipped images with your set and I bet you get happier clients.
_
6 responses to Reflecting on Portrait Sales
I once read that Snowdon or Litchfield did that with his portraits - except he flipped the negative in the enlarger to achieve the same result!
Simon
I had that same conversation with my wife this past weekend regarding some portraits I took of her in December. I’m going to try flipping them and see if it makes a difference. Thanks!
Chris
I had a sitter say the exact same thing a couple of weeks ago and I had the same idea. Haven’t tried it yet but quite a coincidence to see your post.
I had thought about this a while back but never really thought about reversing the image in photoshop. Maybe it would make a difference when proofing with a client? Great idea!
Interesting perspective!
I’m glad that you’re posting regularly this year; you have lots of good food for thought. It isn’t necessary to write a book every time; just one tidbit is about all one can use in a day anyway! Keep it up.
Intriguing - I didn´t think of that before. Gonna have to test this out on myself :p