10 Tips For Taking Beautiful & Interesting Portrait Photography
Tips For Taking Beautiful Portrait Photography Start With the Following:
…Unless yourself is socially awkward, and harbours a dislike for the general public. Then I would suggest a blog on “finding a new career choice.” Joking aside, being myself is the most critical component to achieving a great photograph. Why? Because when I am myself, I am happy. I am outgoing and cheerful, and that helps me to connect with people. When you are taking a portrait, it’s not just a photograph. It’s a moment that is intended to capture the true ephemeral moment of joy, encapsulated in your subject’s personality! Being yourself allows people to relax and feel the real you, so you can capture the real them. It also makes for really fun photoshoots and the possibility of new friendships.
Try to incorporate their personalities, but have some tonal family matching as well.
6. Take Your Time
Nobody likes a photographer who rushes. When you get on scene, if you are having trouble getting the right image or exposure. Ask your subjects to just chat among themselves while you figure out what the hell you are doing. (I do it all the time!) Environments and lighting situations are always changing. Take a quick moment to adjust your settings and snap a few pictures. Once you get it right, you may come away with a few candids of your subjects just being their relaxed selves.
7. Find an Activity
Do something fun! Do your subjects like picnics? Horseback riding? Soccer? Embroidery? I don’t know. Find out who they are and try to incorporate a quick activity. This allows you to start the session by just hanging out doing something fun as a group. This will relax your subjects and also capture the real essence of who they are.
8. Have a story to tell
If your session is a creative or practice session, don’t just snap pictures of a person. Put a theme and some conceptual thought into your session. Get some props. Maybe your theme is bohemian love, or country, whatever floats your boat, or theirs.
9. Use the landscape around you to bounce light
Use the pavement if it’s light concrete, or a white wall to bounce the light back onto your subject. This helps expose their face evenly, particularly in more architectural or urban areas where the sun seems to disappear little sooner.
10. Expose for the subjects skin
Try to expose for your subject’s skin tone. This will help you when you are editing the images later. It’s tough to bring back skin tones unless they’ve been blown out or severely underexposed.
Other Sources That Offer Tips To Taking Beautiful Portraits:
- Kodak.com for many reliable ideas and a variety of sources
- PetaPixel for a more general approach
- Nikon for actual image references
Now get out there and practice until that trigger finger hurts!
xo
Nicole Sarah
