At the moment I am trying to improve my portraiture knowledge and execution. Practically everything taken in terms of photography which isn't still life is portraiture so why I didn't think to give it more attention in the past I don't know. Its about capturing an emotion, an expression, a moment, even a brand image all in one persons face or eye, arm, leg or shoulder. Sounds odd but who said portraiture had to be a head and shoulders passport style image and is essentially the 2d version of a very 3d subject matter! Anyway, the tips and tricks this week are some of my own, some given to me and some from the net. There are some amazingly talented portrait photographers out there so research and be inspired!
- Minimize a round face by using some back lighting and having the sitter straight onto the camera
- Make the person laugh - everyone looks beautiful when they laugh
- Capture movement - weather it be a smile, a laugh, get the sitter to relax and move. This 'movement' and energy is reflected in the images
- Be a sitter yourself and understand how it feels to be the other side of the camera
- Shoot with the head turned slightly to one side, not full profile
- Create a stronger, taller image by having the person lift their chin slightly
- Cover any scars or areas the sitter may not like by using lighting and having these areas in the shadow
- Pull shoulders and arms back
- A long narrow face - Get the sitter to look down ever so slightly
- Tell a story
- If cropping tight, don't concentrate on putting the eyes in the middle of the viewfinder, have them in the top third of the frame
- Play with eye contact
- Look at other peoples portraits, what do you like and what don't you like? What makes it a strong image? How can you be different?
- And of course, last but not least....experiment.
