It's always fun to photograph people, particularly friends and family. But now you want your portraits to look more professional. Below are tips that will transform your snap-shots into beautiful photographs.
1. Placing your subject in the middle of the frame is generally a bad idea. The reason being is because it makes for a very uninteresting photograph. Try placing your subject in the left side or the right side of the frame, because now you are including some background in your photo, adding context.
2. You will want soft lighting for portrait photography. By keeping the light source to your back, you will avoid backlighting your subject, which makes them dark (this is a cool effect sometimes) losing detail in their face. Natural, outdoor lighting is best, and that is usually before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m.
3. On some cameras you will see a "Portrait" setting, and what that does is set a shallow depth of field creating a blurred background. The advantage to this feature is that your subject is clearly the main focus of the photograph. To manually create this effect, set your aperture below 5.6.
4. Try getting close to your subject. Zoom in; feel free to fill the frame with your subject's face. You may want to have them look in different directions rather than directly into the camera. The most important thing is that your subject is comfortable and having fun.
5. Don't forget that a portrait does not just have to be a subject's face. Challenge yourself to capture your subject without including their face. Can you tell a story using your subject's hands, feet, or possessions? Where do they enjoy spending time, where do they work, where are they in their element?
6. Be creative. Try tilting the camera, or have the person move around. In low lighting (and using a tripod), you can use a long shutter speed to create streaking effects.
There are no set rules, so just have fun. Your subject may have some great ideas for specific shots or locations. It is always nice to send your subject a great photo of them after the photo shoot. - 15437
1. Placing your subject in the middle of the frame is generally a bad idea. The reason being is because it makes for a very uninteresting photograph. Try placing your subject in the left side or the right side of the frame, because now you are including some background in your photo, adding context.
2. You will want soft lighting for portrait photography. By keeping the light source to your back, you will avoid backlighting your subject, which makes them dark (this is a cool effect sometimes) losing detail in their face. Natural, outdoor lighting is best, and that is usually before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m.
3. On some cameras you will see a "Portrait" setting, and what that does is set a shallow depth of field creating a blurred background. The advantage to this feature is that your subject is clearly the main focus of the photograph. To manually create this effect, set your aperture below 5.6.
4. Try getting close to your subject. Zoom in; feel free to fill the frame with your subject's face. You may want to have them look in different directions rather than directly into the camera. The most important thing is that your subject is comfortable and having fun.
5. Don't forget that a portrait does not just have to be a subject's face. Challenge yourself to capture your subject without including their face. Can you tell a story using your subject's hands, feet, or possessions? Where do they enjoy spending time, where do they work, where are they in their element?
6. Be creative. Try tilting the camera, or have the person move around. In low lighting (and using a tripod), you can use a long shutter speed to create streaking effects.
There are no set rules, so just have fun. Your subject may have some great ideas for specific shots or locations. It is always nice to send your subject a great photo of them after the photo shoot. - 15437
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