As a journalist, I am called upon to tell a story in a photograph. This usually means including necessary elements or items in the photo, but to me, it also means that I must attempt to photograph the soul of my subject. I can't say I've ever been truly successful at this, but, for me, it is a worthwhile goal.

Eyes are most important. I often shoot with a wide-open aperture, even outdoors. In doing so, I attempt to isolate a person's eyes.And I try shooting extremely tight, with a longer lens. One my favorite tools is the 300mm lens. Another favorite is a reporter that asks questions that cause my subject to ponder life itself.

Try to have your subject forget about your camera; sometimes it is good to keep your camera down, away from your eye, until you are all but forgotten.

When it comes to lighting in portraiture, I use my flash to accentuate the light that is already there. That is to say, if I'm shooting a portrait in a window-lit room, I swivel my flash so my artificial light is bounced off a wall adjacent to main natural light source. As a journalist, I try to preserve things as they were when I got to the shoot location.

Of course, I am not addressing classical portraiture, but journalistic portraiture, as I see it.

Photo Class is a series of lessons in photography by Billy Calzada for beginning and intermediate students. Visit Photo Class often, as new lessons will be posted periodically.