Love Games

When I still lived in Greensboro, I needed to find something interesting to photograph besides old buildings.  I had an assignment in my photography class to do a portrait.  I knew I could only take good photos of someone I was comfortable with, so I searched my mental rolodex (I didn't have a real rolodex) to find someone who was both visually interesting and a friend.
Erin and Chris were two friends I had.  All three of us went to high school together, and since the two of them started going to UNC-Greensboro, they became a couple.
I told them we were going to go to the arboretum and just mess around, try to get some un-posed portraits.  I even brought a box of crazy props I got from Goodwill.  The only one that ended up in this shot is Chris' hat, which says: "No Money, No Job, No Kids, No Problem: Retired."
We first started out awkwardly.  I didn't know what to tell them to do.  It didn't take a lot of cajoling before they started to relax, goofing around like a couple of kids.  We walked over to an archway overgrown with ivy, and I started to get these ideas.  I asked them to play wheelbarrow with each other and then Chris hung from the bar...
I really think the secret to a good portrait is discreetness.  As a photographer you want the subject to feel so safe, they're not paying any attention to when you take the picture.  The second secret is when to take the picture.  Don't wait.  Don't take a picture of what you just saw, take it of what you're seeing. 

Erin and Chris got married. 




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