Bar counter
Bar Photos: A Profile View and a Real Conversation
Profile view, real conversation.
Sitting at the bar rather than at a table changes the photo completely. You are side-on, talking to someone, and the room sits behind you with its lights out of focus, which is the standard visual language of a good candid photo.
The profile angle earns its place for a practical reason too. Almost every other photo in a set is shot from the front, and one true side-on shot makes the whole set feel less like it was taken from a single angle.
What to wear
- A shirt or knit with a collar or neckline that holds its shape in profile
- Darker tones, since bar backgrounds are dark and warm
- Sleeves rolled, because forearms on a bar is most of the pose
When to shoot it, and the light
Evening, using the bar's own lighting rather than a flash. Bars are lit warm and low, and a phone flash kills all of it while adding a hard shadow on the wall behind you.
The mistake that ruins this shot
Looking at the camera. The premise is that you are mid-conversation with someone else, and the moment you look down the lens it becomes a posed photo taken at a bar.
Where it goes in your profile
Fourth or later. Good texture, not an opener, and one bar photo per profile is plenty.