The Art of the Portrait

I'm mostly sent out to shoot sports, but so far this year I've been doing a fair amount of portraits. Portraits and sports are vastly different things to shoot--for one, you can actually tell your subject (such as Principal Tim Donovan, at left) what to do and how to look in a portrait, as opposed to the athletes in a sporting event. So...should be easier, right? 

At best, it's a work in progress...

This shot was for an article about the brother of two Conestoga students who has served tours of duty in Iraq. I sat him in the middle in his uniform, and asked him to hold that flag, which flew in Baghdad. In retrospect, I'd probably have asked Mr. Auburn to take off the bright orange sweatshirt, but I think the photo does portray the pride and dignity of the soldier.