Taking great portraits is as much about people skills as it is about technical ability, or using the latest and greatest photographic equipment. Unless you can first see through your subject's eyes, and understand her as a unique individual, and then build rapport with her so you can unveil and accentuate her finest qualities, your portraits will remain mediocre at best. Some lessons learned along my journey as a photographer may help those who choose to follow.
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1. If using a tripod, compose your portrait and then take one step just to the side and forward from the camera. Do not look through the viewfinder as you capture your subject's image. This allows you to make eye contact initially with your subject, and then direct her in mood, expression, position, and the angle of gaze you are aiming for. When your subject interacts with your camera, the result can be a cold or lifeless rendering, but when you engage your subject through eye contact, expression, gestures and words, the result can be a warm and candid reflection, charged with mood or emotion.
2. If you are not using a tripod, you really should redouble your effort to maintain constant interaction with your subject. Many photographers tend to keep their eyes in the viewfinder of the camera, but this leads to your subject interacting more with the front glass in your lens than with you. Again, you do not want the sterile and lifeless rendering that most often comes when the camera serves to isolate you the photographer from your subject. Interaction with an inanimate object (your camera) can never be a substitute for interaction with another human being (you), when your goal is to capture the essence of your subject, and reflect the attitude and emotion she was feeling at that moment in time.
3. Allow your subject to be herself. A little girl dressed up in fairy wings for a special picture is very cute, and I suppose there is a place in this world for cute. But, contrast this with the little girl who just loves to dance. You put her in her everyday clothes, stand her in front of a plain backdrop, put on her favorite music and say to her, "can you show me how to dance to this song?" You should have no difficulty in capturing timeless expressions there. Now imagine a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy whose true passion in all of life is sailing. You dress him up in a tailored suit; formally pose him in front of a low key backdrop, seated in a Chippendale chair, and use classic loop lighting. What would be said of this portrait years later? "Who was this guy, an executive?" But just suppose, you photographed this same guy in his favorite t-shirt and blue jeans, at the helm of his beloved sail boat, on a beautiful late afternoon, just as the boat was coming about? What would be said of this portrait years later? "This was Charlie, doing what he loved most! That was such a glorious day." The point is, "keep it honest". Fantasy can be cute, but your subject being herself, years later this will be much more meaningful.
4. Allow your subject's expression to be honest. A frown or a grimace that is genuinely felt can be more interesting than a smile that is forced. I try to never just pose my subject and then say, "Okay, now smile for me." If you want your subject to smile then tell a joke, put on a face, or perhaps merely smile at her and she will smile back at you. People generally tend to reflect in their face what they see in yours, but in my experience this is not always so. Nevertheless, interaction with your subject is the key. That being said, the next time you have a difficult subject ask him to tell you a joke, to bring out a smile, if that's the expression you are after. If you are a professional, you know that smiles sell, but if you're an amateur, you are under no pressure to sell, so make your portraits interesting. Not everything in the world is to smile about.
5. Direct your portraits. Take control of the composition of your portraits! Do not be afraid to tell or show your subject what you want. Sometimes showing is best. I often find that actually demonstrating a pose I have in mind, works better than trying to direct my subject through words alone. If you are photographing a group, your life will be easier, if you arrange and pose the adults first. Then, work your way from oldest (or more mature and settled) to youngest of the children. The point to remember is, as the photographer, you should take charge of the shot. The success or failure of the portrait will be your responsibility, so take charge.
Engage your subject to establish and build rapport with her, to take your photos to a higher level. Make your portraits more meaningful by keeping them honest, and natural. We all know a fantasy photo can be cute, and a formally posed portrait can be graceful and dignified, if that is your subject's personality. But, a portrait that is true to the subject is always more meaningful. Allow your subject to be herself, and never force an expression. Learn to take charge and direct your portraits and you will move far ahead in your journey as a photographer. Practice your people skills with each portrait you take. People skills are the prerequisite to all else, if you want to take great portraits. Good day and happy clicking!
If you have ever photographed your weekend outing, family reunion, or your son's baseball game, you know that outdoor photography can present very special challenges. Along my journey as a photographer I’ve learned some outdoor portrait photography techniques that may benefit those who choose to follow.If you have ever photographed your weekend outing, family reunion, or a special vacation getaway with your friends or family, you know that outdoor photography can present some very special challenges. This is true even for the most seasoned photographer. Direct sunlight can be harsh. Unwanted objects can interfere with your composition. Proper color rendering can be problematic. And many times, good old Mother Nature is just not feeling cooperative.Perhaps, there’s not much that can be done about Mother Nature, but with some practice and patience you can overcome many of the other challenges you face as an outdoor portrait photographer. Along my journey as a photographer I’ve learned some outdoor techniques that may benefit those who choose to follow:1. Keep it simple.The subtle pattern and color of an adobe wall, the simple repeating pattern and muted tones of planks on a fishing pier, or the uniform color of a patch of blue bonnets, snapdragons, or yellow primrose can serve as wonderful backdrops for your outdoor portraits.When you are composing your portrait, you want your subject to be the focal point that all eyes are drawn to. Busy patterns, large areas of excessively vibrant colors (especially a mixture of different colors), or over imposing forms in your foreground or background that are not treated properly, can really distract from her if you are not careful.2. Control the depth of field (the range of distances from your camera that are in focus). The edge of a forest, or mountains in the distance may render beautifully as a backdrop for your subject with proper control over the depth of field. If you have an SLR camera, you can adjust your depth of field to bring the background more or less out of focus relative to your subject.This serves as eye control for the observer of your portrait. The eye is naturally drawn to what is brightest and most sharply focused. If your subject is sharply focused relative to the background, she will be accentuated as the focal point of your portrait.Controlling the depth of field is accomplished by adjusting your aperture setting (the size of your lens opening, expressed in f-stops). The smaller the f-stop the larger the opening of your lens, and the smaller the depth of field will be. For instance, when you see a photograph in a nature magazine of a beautiful butterfly in a patch of flowers, and the butterfly is in razor sharp focus but the flowers are gently blurred; this was accomplished by the photographer using a narrow depth of field (small f-stop setting). For bright light situations this may be difficult to achieve.For any given intensity of light, as you open up the aperture (lower the f-stop) you must increase the shutter speed (thereby decreasing exposure time) to avoid over exposure. Increasing the shutter speed generally reduces resolution in the image. Experiment to find the combination of aperture setting and shutter speed that gives the result you desire.3. Be mindful of distracting objects behind your subject.What is plainly a bush, a mailbox, or a birdhouse to your eye, can appear like an extra appendage growing out of the top of your subject’s head in your two dimensional portrait. You may get some interesting effects this way, but generally they will not make a good impression on your subject. Take the time to find an interesting angle that eliminates distracting objects from the background.4. Control the light.“Down light” (e.g. harsh midday light) is generally undesirable. Due to the shadow patterns it creates, it can bring out the worst in your subject … can anyone say, “Raccoon eyes”?“Lateral light” (e.g. early morning and late afternoon light) is much more desirable. Lateral light can be controlled and directed to create beautiful shadow patterns across the face of your subject. There is a saying with many photographers who shoot outdoors, “the first tree in the forest is best” for a background. The reason is, the canopy of the first tree controls the harsh down light, but being on the edge of the forest, you still have lateral light to work with. The same idea holds true for porches or the edge of any other type of overhang. Professional photographers sometimes use shade cloth and reflectors to block down light while directing available lateral light to enhance their subject and achieve their desired effect.5. Correct the color.Before the digital age, corrective filters or special films were mostly used for color correction in outdoor portraits. With digital cameras, the color can be corrected using your white balance setting (expressed as color temperature in degrees Kelvin). Most digital cameras today do a pretty good job of automatically adjusting the white balance for outdoor exposures. If you would like to experiment with your manual white balance setting use the table below as a guide. For a more detailed understanding of the meaning of color temperature correction, see the article at: http://www.sizes.com/units/color_temperature.htmTemperature Typical Sources1000K....... Candles; oil lamps2400K....... Early morning sunrise3200K....... Tungsten light bulbs4000K....... Fluorescent5200K....... Typical daylight; electronic flash6000K....... Cloudy Day7000K....... ShadeKeeping your composition simple, controlling the depth of field, and eliminating objects that may distract from your subject, all help to accentuate your subject as the focal point of your portrait.Controlling the available natural light and correcting the white balance of your photographs can reveal and enhance the true beauty of your subject. Beyond this, make it your aim each day to unleash your creativity that you may see the world around you in fresh and unique ways. Never be content with seeing the ordinary as ordinary. Just stop and think for a moment, everything there is, is ordinary to someone.Art is created by those with the ability to see beyond the ordinary, to interpret their world in an exceptional way, and to reflect their interpretation for others to see. So, experiment and don’t be afraid to try something new. The world is abundant in forms, textures, colors, and patterns of light ... all the handy-work of God. Grand landscapes and magnificent manmade structures are not required for great photos in the great outdoors. May Mother Nature always cooperate with you. Good day and happy clicking!"Finally... Learn How To Work That Darn Digital Camera Like A Pro"
