A beautiful face

This is a wonderful face for a portrait; full of character and lines.  It was taken inside a bar in the afternoon, while the patrons were playing pool.  He and his wife raise potbellied pigs in Espanola, Canada.  The dramatic natural light is coming in through the window, but the inside was dark.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it ended up being one of my favorite photos taken from that trip.

What makes a great portrait?  It's a combination of things; and sometimes it's about breaking the rules.  Some suggest a noncompeting background, and if there are more than one person in the photo, it's suggested that they should have clothing that matches, or is in the same color family.  I've seen some stunning photos of large families where they wear blue jeans and black turtlenecks.  I saw one photograph of a group of related women, where they all wore black and white.

Good lighting is a bonus, because nobody wants to do a lot of work editing the photos when they're done.  Composition and the rule of thirds should be held in mind.  Try to capture an emotioin, crop it in close, and maybe use a telephoto lens so that the background is blurred.

But it depends on what you're looking to achieve.

I am surprised at my results sometimes because I tend to snap in a haphazard sort of a way.  My feeling is that many times a photographer is rushed because of a lot of activity such as a wedding or a reception, and you must be able to put something together that is stunning with little time beforehand to plan it out.  The ideal situation, though, is to know about the challenges in advance and to plan for them.