In fact, the difference between amateur and professional portraits can be vast. To help you make the jump, our friends at the photo management blog Photoventure
have carefully compiled what they believe are nine of the most
essential portrait photography tips to help you improve your people
pictures.
And these aren’t just any old portrait photography tips. These are insider tips that only come from experience. The type of advice long, established pros won’t want you to know.
You’ll notice this more when shooting full-face photos or when there’s lots of white in the scene – brides at weddings are a prime example.
To brighten up your subjects, and when using Av mode, you can use Exposure Compensation. Try dialling in up to +1 stop of positive Exposure Compensation to lighten up people’s faces.
As a general rule, make sure your shutter speed is higher than your effective focal length.
For example, at 200mm use a 1/250 sec shutter speed or faster.
This also means you can get away with slower shutter speeds when using a wide-angle lens – such as 1/20 sec with an 18mm focal length.
Use them indoors (near windows) or outdoors to bounce light back on to your subjects to fill in unwanted shadows.
Many reflectors come double-sided or with detachable covers, so you get a choice of white, silver and gold reflective surfaces.
The white surfaces of reflectors can also double up as diffusers to soften strong direct sunshine.
If you’re really strapped for cash, you can make a reflector by simply using a large sheet of white cardboard – which you can also cover with tin foil for a silver effect – and it should still work a treat!
Zoom in instead to fill the frame for a more inspired composition.
Positioning your subject to one side of the frame, with ‘space to look into’, is a great technique to master, as is experimenting with wide apertures to capture a very shallow depth of field.
But remember to make sure your focusing is precise – with our example shot at f/2.8, we focused on the model’s left eye, this has meant her right eye is dropping out of focus.
Otherwise you could end up with out-of-focus facial features; the person’s nose may be sharp but the eyes are soft. With tightly composed photos, focus on the eyes; with wider compositions, focus on the head.
To help with pinpoint focusing, manually select a single autofocus (AF) point.
The tried-and-tested pro technique is to set the central AF point, half-press the shutter button to focus on the eyes/head, then recompose to position them off to one side before fully pressing the button – this is often a much faster way of shooting than fiddling with individual AF points.
Alternatively, set AF points in the top corners and position them over your subject’s eyes/head and take your shot.
Either way will help you to position your subjects off-centre for a more attractive and dynamic composition.
The sun can cause all sorts of problems for portrait photographers; harsh shadows across faces, unbalanced exposures and burnt-out highlights.
Use a bit of ‘fill flash’ and you’ll get instantly improved portraits.
Shoot in Av mode and your camera will capture a much more balanced exposure, as your flash lights up your subject while the camera exposes for the background.
Our example portraits were taken using a small portable background and two off-camera Canon Speedlites fired through white brollies.
Can you use the studio’s lights and cables? What backdrops are available? Will somebody be on hand to assist, if necessary?And if you only need a few hours of studio time, ask if they do a half-day or hourly rate.
And these aren’t just any old portrait photography tips. These are insider tips that only come from experience. The type of advice long, established pros won’t want you to know.
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 01 When to use Exposure Compensation
A common problem when photographing people with light skin tones is underexposed portraits.You’ll notice this more when shooting full-face photos or when there’s lots of white in the scene – brides at weddings are a prime example.
To brighten up your subjects, and when using Av mode, you can use Exposure Compensation. Try dialling in up to +1 stop of positive Exposure Compensation to lighten up people’s faces.
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 02 Best shutter speed settings
When setting your shutter speed, remember to factor in your lens’s focal length, otherwise camera-shake (and blurred results) will become an issue.
As a general rule, make sure your shutter speed is higher than your effective focal length.
For example, at 200mm use a 1/250 sec shutter speed or faster.
This also means you can get away with slower shutter speeds when using a wide-angle lens – such as 1/20 sec with an 18mm focal length.
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 03 Get pro-look portraits with a reflector
A quick and affordable way to brighten up your portraits and to give them a professional look is to use a reflector.Use them indoors (near windows) or outdoors to bounce light back on to your subjects to fill in unwanted shadows.
Many reflectors come double-sided or with detachable covers, so you get a choice of white, silver and gold reflective surfaces.
The white surfaces of reflectors can also double up as diffusers to soften strong direct sunshine.
If you’re really strapped for cash, you can make a reflector by simply using a large sheet of white cardboard – which you can also cover with tin foil for a silver effect – and it should still work a treat!
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 04 Easy ways to build rapport
- Try to connect with subjects – it’s essential for great portraits
- Have fun when taking portraits – keep the mood upbeat
- If you smile, your subjects will smile too!
- Show your subjects your shots to reassure them they look good
- Don’t be afraid to give plenty of direction, telling your models how to look and pose.
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 05 Creative compositions
Don’t be lazy with your compositions. Too often photographers stand back, thinking it’s best to include all, or at least the top half, of their subject.Zoom in instead to fill the frame for a more inspired composition.
Positioning your subject to one side of the frame, with ‘space to look into’, is a great technique to master, as is experimenting with wide apertures to capture a very shallow depth of field.
But remember to make sure your focusing is precise – with our example shot at f/2.8, we focused on the model’s left eye, this has meant her right eye is dropping out of focus.
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 06 Focusing tips
When using wide apertures (especially at f/2.8 or faster), your depth of focus decreases dramatically, so it’s crucial your focusing is bang on.Otherwise you could end up with out-of-focus facial features; the person’s nose may be sharp but the eyes are soft. With tightly composed photos, focus on the eyes; with wider compositions, focus on the head.
To help with pinpoint focusing, manually select a single autofocus (AF) point.
The tried-and-tested pro technique is to set the central AF point, half-press the shutter button to focus on the eyes/head, then recompose to position them off to one side before fully pressing the button – this is often a much faster way of shooting than fiddling with individual AF points.
Alternatively, set AF points in the top corners and position them over your subject’s eyes/head and take your shot.
Either way will help you to position your subjects off-centre for a more attractive and dynamic composition.
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 07 Using fill flash on sunny days
Although it may seem odd to use flash when the sun’s out, that’s precisely the time to use it!The sun can cause all sorts of problems for portrait photographers; harsh shadows across faces, unbalanced exposures and burnt-out highlights.
Use a bit of ‘fill flash’ and you’ll get instantly improved portraits.
Shoot in Av mode and your camera will capture a much more balanced exposure, as your flash lights up your subject while the camera exposes for the background.
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 08 A basic, yet classic, lighting set up
You can also achieve professional portraits with a pair of modern flashguns and attachments.Our example portraits were taken using a small portable background and two off-camera Canon Speedlites fired through white brollies.
Essential Portrait Photography Tips: 09 Hiring a studio
Booking studio space is a good opportunity to take some great portraits in a controlled environment. But ask about ceiling height, or you may struggle to put light stands up high to position softboxes.Can you use the studio’s lights and cables? What backdrops are available? Will somebody be on hand to assist, if necessary?And if you only need a few hours of studio time, ask if they do a half-day or hourly rate.
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