Portrait of...

While setting up for a portrait session I had my sons sit in to help test lighting. And I was reminded of how to shoot a portrait, not the lighting, not the pose, location or lens selection. But, how important your subject themselves are. Seems like a given, yes? But it's easy to get caught up in the minor details of a shoot.
My youngest was goofing on me a bit and I wanted to him tell to stop. "Hey! I'm shooting here!" Then it struck me that he was just being himself...exactly what we're looking for when we shoot a portrait. Remember to "listen" to your subject and your own instinct and you'll make a worthy likeness of your subject every time.