[6-20] "Conversation"

It is commonly believed that lighting is the most important part of an image/photo/portrait.

That's partially true; an image is not a photograph if not a collection of light of various intensities. However I'd vouch that in portraiture the ability to set the mood is more important.

If there is no light, there is no image. But, light is not hard to find; you flip a switch and it's enough to see.

Lighting is what I've worked on long enough that I don't need to tamper with it much. Lighting matters, but by the time a person comes in, I know basically the set-up I will use. A few adjustments must be made but it's not something I need to work on.

The more important criteria is that they will like the images. It matters most how the person feels, during the session, from start to finish; I am thinking about conversation and nonverbal cues and where it's all going.

The conversation should pull the person, hopefully, in a direction so that they end up liking the pictures.

It is difficult to talk and take pictures. If I focus on one, the other becomes sloppy.

In essence I do both but focus on lighting only if it's unpredictable. So it's a hybrid; the photography/lights/camera settings become second nature. I'm thinking about conversation 95% time. If lighting becomes problematic, or not working, or if I'm not fully awake, I'll have to manage both, taking away from interaction, meaning sometimes the quality of images will suffer.