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Making a portrait with goggles

Include goggles as a visible costume detail, then explore a comfortable hand gesture and a different framing with your portrait partner.

Yenra Photography · Published October 17, 2026

Goggles can be a playful detail in a portrait. Their round lenses and rims may stand out on a hat or above the hair, while a small hand gesture can bring them into the picture in another way. The useful starting point is an accessory your portrait partner enjoys.

These Anime USA 2012 photographs suggest several possibilities for a new exercise. The top-hat portrait is separate from the two Steampunk Ariel examples; together they offer ideas to compare, rather than instructions from one original session. Start comfortably, look at the results together and choose a variation you both enjoy.

Give the goggles a clear place in the portrait

Round goggles rest on a black top hat above the face. The lenses catch reflections and the pale rims separate them from the darker hat. Green surroundings give the accessory a different background from the skin and clothing lower in the portrait.

Notice how the goggles remain recognizable within a whole portrait rather than a separate detail photograph. Follow their round shapes, then return to the face. Both can have a place in the picture without requiring the accessory to cover the eyes.

Begin with a willing partner and an accessory they already enjoy wearing. Let them choose a comfortable position, then check how the face, hat or hair, and goggles fit inside the frame. Share the first photograph and use what you both notice to choose a small variation.

Let a small hand gesture join the picture

In the Steampunk Ariel portrait, both hands touch the goggles above bright red hair. The gesture gives the hands a visible relationship with the accessory while leaving the face below it open to view. It is one possible way to include the goggles in the portrait.

This photograph has softer detail than the next example. The hand placement is still clear enough to offer an idea: look at the shape made by the arms and the space around the face. You can explore that gesture with your own equipment without needing to reproduce the appearance of this file.

If your partner would like to try a gesture, invite them to hold or touch their own accessory in a way that feels natural. A brief, easy movement is enough. They can also leave their hands at rest; the exercise works best when the choice belongs to the person being photographed.

Try a relaxed view with hands outside the frame

The horizontal Steampunk Ariel portrait brings the face, red hair and goggles beside windows, with the hands outside the frame. A smiling expression and wider image shape offer a different variation. The goggles continue to connect the accessory with the portrait even without a hand gesture.

Compare this view with the preceding one. Framing, expression and visible detail differ as well as the hands. Name one contribution you enjoy in each photograph before deciding what you would like to try yourself.

Make another comfortable portrait and review the pair together. You might keep the goggles above the eyes throughout, change your framing, or simply wait for an expression your partner likes. Keep a favorite variation and one short note for next time; an enjoyable shared experiment is a useful result.

Look back with curiosity.

• How do the face and goggles share the frame?
• Which comfortable gesture or framing would you try?
• Which variation do you and your partner enjoy?

Keep exploring

Exploring a portrait with a hat · Making a portrait with glasses · Exploring hand gestures in a portrait

Browse the complete Anime USA 2012 gallery. Return to a photograph that interests you, follow its original neighbors, and see what else you notice. Your next useful experiment can begin with a small detail that catches your attention.