The elements of effective portraits

You know there's something powerful about a crit rack, when you bring it out…and it's empty, and then when you slowly set your images on it for other people…to critique and review. And in the educational context when we use crit rack…typically, the photographer's heart is pounding, because they think "Yes, I like…this image, but will other people like this photograph?"…When we look at our photos on the crit rack we have to ask ourselves the…larger question: what makes a portrait good?…It's a really essential and integral question.…

For example, let's say we look at a photo from prom in high school, one of my…old prom photos, and so what makes that photo good is that I was there, is that I…have a connection. I care about that image.…But here is the challenge.…When we create portraits, we have to create portraits that people care about…even though they're not there, even though they don't have a connection to…the subject matter.…So what makes a portrait good?…Well, I like what Jeff Lipsky once said.…