179 - How to Create Portraits That Feel Raw, Honest, and Powerful

In this episode, I sit down with portrait photographer Betina LaPlante to explore the philosophy and practice behind her visceral, intimate portraiture.

Topics covered:

• Why Betina puts the camera down before she ever starts shooting — and how building rapport before a session transforms the images she gets
• The difference between directing a subject and witnessing one — and why she almost always chooses to witness
• Her work photographing actors like Charles Dance and Christopher Lloyd, and what it means to reveal the person behind the persona
• How shooting tethered (something she rarely does) became the right call for one particularly camera-shy subject
• Her 35mm lens, her reliance on natural light, and why she's learning to work with continuous artificial lights
• Her lifelong love of black and white — from developing film in her bathroom darkroom to converting digital portraits today
• Why hands are central to her portraits: what they reveal, why they're harder to perform with, and how they carry a life's worth of character
• The ethics of intimacy in portraiture — and why she has never felt the need to use discomfort as a tool
• Dream subjects she'd love to photograph: Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Walken, and more
• Her advice for photographers still finding their voice: shoot what you genuinely love

Find Betina LaPlante:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/betinatheplante
• Website: https://betinaplante.com

Sponsor links:

• StyleCloud — beautifully designed website templates for photographers: https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/stylecloud | Code: nerdyphoto15 (15% off)
• Luminar Neo — AI-powered photo editing software: https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/luminar | Code: nerdyphoto ($10 off)
• SiteGround — web hosting with increased storage capacity: https://siteground.com/go/nerdy

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About The Podcast

The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com

If you have any questions or comments about this episode or any other episodes, OR if you would like to ask a photography related question or have ideas for a topic for a future episode, please reach out to us at https://nerdyphotographer.com/contact