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Portrait photography is one of the most popular genres of photography. And for a good reason. This type of photography is the most challenging for any photographer, and it takes a professional photographer to capture this “something” for a good portrait.
A portrait is more than just a photo. It’s an emotion and a vibe that the person in the photo is delivering. When taking a portrait photo, the photographer needs to do more than just finding a good angle and the right lens. They need to try and catch the expressions, mood, and personality of the subject. Only then, the portrait will look as it should.
So, let’s go through 10 useful tips about portrait photography that’ll help you create stunning portraits.
Our first tip is to alter your perspective and make something unique. Imagine all those portraits you’ve seen in your life. The subject is looking directly at the camera and making a certain face. Well, if you want to capture more than just a look, try to alter your perspective. Try to take a photo from the high point by climbing on a chair or something. Or, if it works better, try to go as close to the ground as possible and take a portrait from the downside. This way, you’ll create something special and attentive.
No matter how good of a photographer you are, the portrait won’t look good if your subject is uncomfortable. Your subject will most likely look in pain or being sick. And this is something you definitely don’t want. So, the best way to prevent this is to relax the person before the photoshoot and make sure they are comfortable with the camera around. Some people are natural, and photo shooting doesn’t bother them, but if your subject is like most people and sees it as a frightening experience, you need to break the ice. Try with regular small talk. If you’re taking a portrait of children, let them play around the camera a bit and get used to it.
As a photographer, you can play with zooming, lightning, focus, and many other things. Find the lightning that works the best for the subject, based on what you want to point out. Side-light is an amazing thing to create the mood. If you want your subject to look a little bit mysterious, you can use silhouetting. To create something unique, use background light.
To avoid “already seen” portraits where someone is just standing and looking at the camera, sitting at their desk, and similar, try to move your subject out of their comfort zone. At first, expect to get not-so-good photos, but after your subject is relaxed. You can create stunning photos just by stepping from the “standard portrait frame.”
Here is something you should definitely try as a portrait photographer. Catch a certain part of your subject and focus on it. Sometimes, the effect can be amazing since more things are left to the imagination. Usually, the depth of a subject is shown through his eyes, but you can focus on any other part according to your opinion.
Sometimes, during portrait shots, the background is completely wrong. Therefore, it stands out more than your subject. Now, to avoid this, or simply to put your subject in the main focus, you can blur the background behind. This way, your subject will pop up on their portrait and catch all the looks.
As getting close up can make certain parts of your subject stand out, so can obscuring certain parts. By doing this, you will leave something to the imagination of your audience, and at the same time, they will focus on what you want them to focus on – the thing visible in the portrait.
You can use clothes, objects, or even the hands of a subject to obscure some of the parts.
This one is risky, and you should do it after careful thoughts. If you introduce a prop, your subject can be shadowed by it. However, it can help your subject stand out and show more of their personality. Therefore, think it through and find something you can place in the right spot to help your subjects show who they truly are.
Many portraits are made in a standard composition – the subject is in the center of the photo, in the main focus. Now imagine if you place your subject in the corner or on the edge of the photo. You’ve got something completely new and unique. Not necessarily it will look good, but you can try many different placings for your subject until you find the right one!
In the end, the most important for the perfect portrait is to do a photo session. If you do just one photo, most chances, it won’t look good. But in time, your subject will relax, you will have more opportunities to play, and the perfect combination will come. You can tell your subject what to do or simply pretend you are paparazzi. Sometimes, this can help to relax the subject more!
More than that, when you are editing the photo later, make sure to use the quality equipment and quality methods. Here, you can find all the information about printers to use for the quality photo.
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You can contact us with every thought or question you may have – we promise to get back to you with all the answers.