Portrait Photography. Introduction. Lesson Six

Transcription

1 Introduction Now that we ve braved our manual settings, learnt about the concept of correct exposure and started using our settings for different and creative effects; we re going to put all those elements into practice and look at some techniques for creating beautiful portraits. A portrait can take many forms, and can show us much more than a smiling subject. In this lesson we re going to explore techniques for improving your portraits, whether your subjects are children, adults or groups. Whilst anyone can capture a people shot a portrait itself is a purposeful image, which shows the viewer a little bit of who that person is. The scene, posing, lighting and expression are all important elements of a great portrait. Additionally, great portrait photography takes just as much practice as photography itself, and the purpose of this lesson is to provide an introduction to portrait photography as a foundation on which to build your skills as you gain confidence and experience. This lesson will specifically cover: Connections Purpose Vision Technical Elements

2 Connection A fantastic portrait photo doesn t just show us who the subject is, but it gives us a glimpse of their essence. Perhaps we re capturing a delighted child, a loving family, or a couple in love. The goal of the portrait photographer is to make a genuine connection with their subject, and at all costs avoid asking them to say cheese! What s wrong with cheese? Well in most cases, when we force someone to smile, we ll certainly capture a smile. But what we d much rather capture is a genuine reflection of that person, and the real smile that we capture will always be much more filled with life. When you set out to photograph a subject, be it a child or adult, the best way to start is without your camera, just chatting, ensuring they feel comfortable and relaxed, and making a connection. Of course if you re photographing someone you already know well then you re already a few steps ahead. Keep your shoot light hearted and fun and you ll be sure to capture them at their best.

3 Also try and engage connection between your subjects, so that you can capture the emotion between them. You can see in images where there is genuine connection between the subjects that you have created a relationship of trust, and they feel comfortable in front of the camera. This allows you to capture beautiful moments that you would otherwise potentially miss.

4 Have a vision When selecting how you re going to photograph your portrait, the most important aspect is to decide what it is about your subject that you wish to capture, and your vision for the shot. When I say vision don t be alarmed, I m not suggesting every portrait needs a wild creative vision. You may just want a simple, clean, effective portrait and that is your vision. It s important to imagine what it is you want to capture so that you can set about putting it into place. Ask yourself some simple questions about what your shot aims to record: Do you want to show off someone s personality? Are you recording a moment/experience or an action taking place? Are you recording a memory about this person/people at a special time in their lives? Is the landscape/environment part of the storytelling for this image and if so does it suit your subject and vision? We all want photos of loved ones to remember them by, especially children as they grow older, so by no means should we ever stop taking snapshots of the people in our lives. However the difference between a snapshot and a purposeful portrait is the thought and consideration we put into creating the image. And, if we follow these techniques and tips we can improve our everyday snapshots as well!

5 Purposeful Composition Coming back to our first lesson, careful composition will really enhance our portrait images. Selecting simple backgrounds that suit the subject are an important element of composition, and remembering to look for distractions such as poles, fence lines, clutter and objects that draw our eye away from the subject. Avoiding clutter is a great reason to use a wide aperture (f4 or lower) and then having your subject a good distance from the background (at least 1 metre), which combine to create the beautiful blur. Using these techniques help the subject pop and give a professional feel to the photos. Your background choices should either be simple and clean so as to show off the subject OR be selected as part of the shot, in a way that

6 compliments the subject and adds more to the story, such as their home, their garden, their kitchen, or a place that is relevant to them. Examples of simple effective backgrounds for portraits are: Walls with texture: brick, stone, corrugated iron, painted walls Landscapes: beaches, paddocks or fields, any wide outdoor space Greenery: trees, shrubs, grass lawn (shooting down), gardens Any background that is heavily blurred (wide aperture & long focal length) How close we shoot our subject will also have an impact on composition, and whilst we stick to our rule of thirds, it s important to consider, again, what we re capturing in our subject. Expressions are best captured in a close up, and more relaxed headshots are best captured with a three quarter crop, remembering not to crop out fingers, or hands. A full body image will tell us more about the subject in relation to their environment.

7 Posing and Body Language Your subject s pose and body language will have a big impact on how effective and flattering your portrait is, and I find the best way to improve in this area is by studying great portraits that you love, and taking note of how the subject is posed, and what angle the photograph is taken from.

8 As a guide, always encourage your subject to stand nice and tall with good posture. Give them something to do with their hands, or else they ll look as if they re standing aimlessly, and it also helps people relax. Lean people into walls to connect them to their environment, and don t be shy to ask them to move into different positions or poses that you think suit them best. Have fun with posing, and go with whatever style matches your subject and let s them show off their personality! Also remember our compositional points or using lines and balance the human body can create beautiful lines that can form part of composition.

9 Photographing Kids Whilst we can attempt to apply all the techniques in the world, photographing children will always be more of a challenge, but thankfully a fun challenge with great rewards! In addition to the ideas already mentioned in this lesson I ve included a guide below to help you capture fun and beautiful images of your children, with the goal being that everyone stays relaxed.

10 Build a connection first Give them something to do with their hands, a toy, activity or favourite book Get down to their eye level nice and low If you re using help of another adult to gain the children s attention, have them stand RIGHT over your head, so that the children are looking at the camera not off to the side Watch your background - keep it simple and avoid or remove distracting elements

11 Sit down a rug or blanket, or sit the children in a safe small chair Capture children in their own environment. Big open spaces will encourage little ones to run Don t be afraid of bribery, esp for older children. My going rate is in choc chips Avoid playgrounds your subjects will find the play equipment irresistible

12 Candid Shots Kids don t have to be looking at the camera Details are just as sweet and important Position yourself based on good light Group Shots Stick with soft light and simple backgrounds. Parks/Gardens are great locations

13 Techniques So to summarise what we ve learnt so far, this is what we can aim to use for flattering and effective portraits: Shallow aperture (small f stop number), to separate the subject from the background Place subject a good distance from the background Use a long focal length (50mm or higher)

14 If you re shooting with a kit lens: I know that lots of you are using your kit lens that came with your camera, and very shallow aperture settings are not available to you. So here are some specific tips to maximize your portrait shots with them: Zoom your lens in as close as you can, and then step back. Having your lens at the highest focal length (maximum zoom ) is ideal for portraits Set your aperture to it s lowest setting. This will probably be between f4 f/5.6, to increase your level of blur make sure there is a really big distance between your subject and the background. Kit lens: 18 55mm So technically, once we ve established a connection and selected lovely light and a suitable background for our portrait, what else should we be focusing on? We must

15 always come back to exposure, and selecting the most appropriate settings to ensure our image exposure is perfect. The next most important factor is making sure our subject is sharp and in focus. In a portrait the eyes of the subject should always be in focus, and with wide apertures this can take some practice, as sometimes the camera wants to focus on hair pieces, collars of shirts, or even something behind the subject that is bright and draws the camera.

16 Catch Lights Catch lights are the small windows of light that we see in a person s eyes. They ve been used in portrait painting for hundreds of years and they add life and depth to an image. Without catch lights the eyes can appear dull and dead, which is pretty far from what we re trying to achieve. Start checking out any sort of portrait image you see, in advertising, movies, books, and take notice of the catch lights. Technically the preferred placement of catch lights is at the 10 or 2 position (imagine a clock) and if you ever learn studio lighting then this is the goal. Let s be a little more realistic on ourselves and just aim for catch lights in eyes as essential for our portrait images.

17 Creative Portraits As with all our photography pursuits, and really this is the best part, once we ve mastered the basics of photography technique, then we can really start having some creative fun! Ensuring good exposure, a connection with our subject, clear focus and catch lights in the eyes, we can experiment with all the other elements to create fun, imaginative and beautiful portraits. Through playing with light, composition, expression and angles we can create gorgeous images and show off our subjects in a way that best suits them, or which fulfills those creative strings tugging at our heart!!

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20 Photo Challenge Your Photo Challenge this week is to take a close up portrait of someone frame them from the top of their head, to just below their shoulders. Aim to have their eyes in the top third of the frame and watch the catch lights to ensure you have light in their eyes. Aim for soft light, so there are not harsh shadows on their face. Also ensure your background is plain and simple without clutter or distractions. Tips: Ensure your exposure is nice and even, if the image is too dark or too light then adjust your settings to let more light in. For portraits you ll find that a slightly over exposed image (a little bit lighter) gives a lovely effect to their skin. Be mindful however of not over exposing to the point of losing all detail in their skin. Ensure your subjects eyes are in clear focus. Use an aperture setting of between f/2.2 and f/6. If you have a lens that goes to f/1.8 that s beautiful, but it will probably be too wide for a close up portrait and you ll miss focus. Purposefully pose your subject, sit them down, or give them something to do with their hands, so they don t feel awkward. Even if you don t see their hands in the frame, it makes a difference! Shoot at your longest focal length available Have your subject stand a good distance from the background, and make sure you watch for clutter and distracting objects in the frame