Remember my recent post about how you need to tell a story with your pictures, but in a way that makes the viewer piece together that story?

One way to do that is by adding a second person in your portrait background, but having that second person blurred out. You sawa variant of this in the wedding cake picture, with dad in the background.

But this technique works especially well when there are two or more people, and especially when there is a relationship between these persons. Like in this nice wide-angle image of the bride and groom:

Groom with bride, by photographer Michael Willems

The centre of attention is the groom (unusually, because of course most of the rest of the wedding photos emphasize the bride, not the groom).  And then, a few milliseconds later, you clearly see the bride, and that she is smiling, and she is looking at her new husband.

More technical detail:

• The wide angle makes the perspective show.
• A good lens, which allows a wide aperture, and proximity to the subject, blurs the background.
• Flash was bounced off the wall behind me, on my left (so the subject is hit with photons from the front).
• The camera is in manual (“M”) mode; Exposure is set to light the room well.

Sometimes, not showing things that normally you would, also works. Look at the groom: we have no idea what he is thinking.

Knowing Looks

Well, of course we do, we can guess – and that is what this is about.

Try it yourself now, this type of portrait! Aperture open all the way on a fast lens.