How to Take Stunning Portraits. Photo captured by Hugh O'Malley (Click Image to See More From Hugh O'Malley) Learning how to take stunning portraits is one skill that can be easily mastered if you understand the concepts and have had lots of practice.
There are four factors that will determine the success of your portrait shots and they are composition, depth of field, lighting and your subject. Let’s take a look at each of the factors and see how it can help you to take better portraits. Composition Ensure that you frame the subject so that they occupy almost the entire frame. You could also shoot from a different perspective. Alternatively, you may also try to angle your camera such that your subject is not framed horizontally or vertically when you take your shot. Depth of Field As your subject is the most important focus in your shot, you would want your background to be out of focus while your subject is in focus.
Lighting Using effective lighting techniques can create different moods in your shots. Thoughts On A Couple of Portraits. I was asked about my portraiture by a reader who wanted to know what I am thinking about when shooting.
I decided to break down a couple of shots I did of Natalie in Seattle the Sunday after my creativeLIVE presentation. We were on the waterfront and the sun was out in full force. Yes, it was out in full in Seattle in April. Maybe it was me, maybe it was Bri… who knows. The girls were taking turns standing by a metal building with some glass in order to get warm. I was taken with the light that fell across Natalie’s face as she was facing away from the full sun. Looking at Natalie in the sun and taking a meter reading of all of her would naturally include some sunlight. Yep, the hair blows out. That is the look I wanted to portray… what I saw in my minds eye was the shot playing out against the bright sun, and letting that sun BE bright and open and airy. What I didn’t want was to get any sun on her face. Window Portrait: Photography Activity. Photo captured by Jamie Goodsell (Click Image to See More From Jamie Goodsell) This is a basic indoor portrait with soft window light from one side.
You’ll need: A window that does not face the sun (or it is overcast outside)DaylightA willing model Camera Setup Mode: Aperture Priority (Often shown as Av on the mode wheel)ISO: 100-400, as low as possibleWhite Balance: CustomAperture: As low as your lens will go. Watch out for: The shutter speed. White Balance Setup: Put the white paper in front of the subject. The Pose: Position your subject back of the centerline of the window, so a little light falls on the “dark” side of their face. Framing the Image: If you have a zoom lens, you can either be close and “zoomed out” or farther away and “zoomed in”.
Take the Image: Play back and look for blown-out highlights in the subject’s face. Analyzing and Improving: Look at the image. "Her Winter Fairytale" captured by Olga Filonova (Click Image to See More From Olga Filonova) 101 Portrait Photography Tips. Hover over this picture to pin this article on Pinterest!
This is the largest collection of portrait photography tips ever assembled on a single page of the Internet. To write this portrait photography article, I asked members of the Improve Photography community to submit their favorite portrait photography tips. This article is a combination of my favorite tips, mixed in with the tips from the community. If you’d like to join the Improve Photography community, LIKE our Facebook fan page! 1. 2. 3. Window light 4. 5. I call it a “macro portrait.” 13 Tips for Improving Outdoor Portraits. Outdoor Portraits present portrait photographers a variety of challenges and opportunities. Today James Pickett from America the Lost suggests 13 tips to help you with your outdoor portrait work.
Image by riot jane With my very first digital SLR there was a sigh of relief, everything was going to be so much easier now and I didn’t have to think anymore. You know the scenario; you pull the camera out, charge the batteries, go for a walk around the house and down the street taking the same pictures you have taken every time a new camera came into your life.
“This is great!” There are three very simple things that improve all photography, including portraits. 1) Never select all of the focus points for portraits, pick one. When you pick the autofocus option that allows the camera to select focus points, you are doing your portraits a terrible disservice.