FEW TIPS AND TRICKS TO CLICK PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY FOR AMATEURS

In the olden days, people used to get their portraits painted and several portrait painters became famous by creating masterpieces such as Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt and many more or you probably heard of the famous portrait painting “Mona Lisa”. The handmade portraits tell a story about a person which captivates the attention of others. Handmade portraits have now changed to portrait photography but with a modern touch. Portrait photography requires less effort than painting portraits which took so much time. But capturing good portrait photography with amazing expressions and emotions can take time to learn.

Portrait photography is a style that captures humans as their subjects. It is said that Robert Cornelius was the one who took the first self-portrait also known as a selfie in modern vocab when photography was introduced. To learn good portrait photography one must how to use a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera (DSLR), techniques of compositions and angles, an idea about backdrops and poses. Worry not if you don’t know any of these, we are here to help you out. Here few tips and tricks to master the art of portrait photography:-

1. Prepare your subject for the shoot:

The concept of portrait photograph revolves around the person (subject) expressions and emotions. Making your subject comfortable during the shoot is an essential factor to capture good portrait photography. It is best to get to know your client or model and let them know about your style of photography about what exactly you want your shots to look like. People tend to get nervous in front of the camera so communicating and connecting with them can close the gap. Encourage your subject to wear neutral or dark colors which helps to enhance their face better.

2. Poses do matter:

Now that your subjects feel comfortable in front of the camera, give them instructions about how you want them to pose. Guide them during the photo shoot such as direct your face towards the left, look at me, keep your hands at your back pocket, straighten your back or whatever poses you want. The right pose for your subject can create a charming portrait photograph, before deciding the poses keep background, attire, camera angles, and lightning in mind.

3. Take Candid photos as well:

Someone says that the best photos are often clicked in candid moments. Sometimes people are not comfortable posing which is the problem especially when it comes to children portrait photography which makes it look unnatural, you can give them any sort of activity to make them feel occupied and start clicking pictures from that you can have tons of candid pictures.

4. Be a pro camera user:

Portraiture photography takes a lot of time and practice to perfect the artistic impression and techniques. Well, to be honest, there is no such thing as a good camera for a portrait as every camera nowadays capture good portraits is all about the techniques. Understanding how Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO work together feels like a difficult task but it is simple once you get acquainted with it.

For example, A larger aperture (smaller the f-stop and more light pass through) can create a shallow depth of field which makes foreground and background blurry and focuses on the subject. You can even set your camera on portrait mode for better pictures.

5. Choose the right lens:

Without a correct lens, you cannot capture amazing and spectacular photography. For portrait photography, it is better to use an 85 mm to 105 mm medium-range telephoto lens to have a balance between model and background. If you just want to focus just on the subject then a 70 mm to 200 mm telephoto lens would be a good choice with that you can reduce foreground and background distractions.

6. Angles are your best friend:

Different angles can bring different perspectives to the photograph. Generally, in portrait photography, the shot is placed near the eye level of the subject. Choosing an exceptional angle can make your portrait stand out from others. Angles can add a lot of variety to the photographs for example shooting a portrait from a low angle or below the subject makes it more powerful. You can make your subject look whatever you want depending on the angles you shoot them.

7. Lighting is important:

Light is essential in any photograph, for capturing the photos you can use natural light or your lighting set up. For natural light, the first step is to check the weather as you don’t want the rain to play the spoilsport. Clicking pictures at Golden Hour (Period of daytime shortly after sunset and sunrise) is a good option to click the portrait photography. A good photographer needs to know about the lighting so he/she/they can take advantage of it.

If you cannot click pictures in natural light then you can set up lighting to create amazing portrait photography such as butterfly lighting, loop lighting, Rembrandt lighting, spilt lighting etc. To make the light softer then use reflectors as they are a cheap and good investment.

8. Use props:

Using props can make your portrait photography more interesting and creative. You can experiment with shapes, colours, textures and elements. For example, you can click a portrait by keeping your camera between the prop and blur the foreground by focusing on the subject can create an aesthetic feel in the photography.

9. Use of gels:

A gel is a see-through colour material that is used to modify colours in photography. The gel helps to alter the temperature or change the mood of the portrait, if your photo is producing unnatural skin tones or odd colours then you may need to adjust the temperature of the photograph.

10. Post-processing and editing:

Last but not the least point, EDITING! Your needs to go through the editing process as it can improve the whole quality of the photograph. Amateur photographers often tend to ignore the editing process, but with editing, you can give your photograph that “awe” look. In editing, you can crop the unwanted element, lighten the image, reduce noise or change in the background. One must need to be careful while cropping as you want the image to be proportionate.

WINDING-UP

Portrait photography is a creative and artistic way to click individuals. One mustn’t forget that you won’t capture a perfect portrait photograph in the first trial you will fall many times but you will be successful in clicking pictures by practising. These ten tips will help you to learn about portrait photography. Now go out and chase your dream of being a portrait photographer.

Happy Clicking!