02/24/2026
Something that has been on my mind is the psychology behind photographing a subject. Let me start at the beginning. No one likes to have their picture taken. Over the years I learned that people prioritize the experience; the experience is what makes the photograph. I could capture the most beautiful portrait of a subject and if they had a bad time during the session, they would hate the photos one hundred percent of the time. So I started asking my clients if there were any things they wanted me to give special care and attention to. This person dislikes their nose, this person doesn't like their eyes - everyone has something about themselves they dislike. So I would light, compose, and edit appropriately to overcome these perceived blemishes. Many times the very thing a subject dislikes about themselves is the unique quality of beauty about them that I loved to photograph. My number one rule that I would tell every client at the start of a session was: "The most important rule is that we have fun." This was intentional on my part, because people remember the experience, not the photograph.
The tools available today allow anyone to create an image of themselves indistinguishable from a real photo. They allowed me to create the image used in this post, which looks exactly like a still from the film "Blade Runner." Except it isn't, it's 100% ai generated. As ai photography takes larger hold the psychology of getting to know the subject being photographed, human to human, is being lost and will eventually be gone. Just like tears... in rain.
