The Art of Taking Stunning Portrait Photography
Organizing a portrait photography session is a bit of an art. As a photographer, you need to use numerous skill sets.
These can range from being highly organized ahead of the session to possessing exceptional people skills so you can manage your model well. But don't panic. We break it down for you with some tips to help ensure your portrait sessions run smoothly, and your images turn out fabulously.
Planning
Our first suggestion is that you break down what needs to happen for each session. Create a planning template or outline form you can customize for each client based on their needs. You should include individual categories that you fill out by the client. The most important things to include are:
poses
gear/accessories
lighting needs
cameras & lenses
exposure settings
Avoid Forcing Poses
Posing a subject is typically only used with a professional model. Asking someone to pose, who's not trained as a model, can lead to unnatural poses and uncomfortable-looking subjects. Moreover, if you lack experience working with professional models, it's even more guarantee that the session will disappoint! Your best bet is to let the session flow more naturally.
Try to engage your subject or subjects in a way that allows them to relax and not focus on the fact that a camera is pointed at them —the more natural and spontaneous the image, the better. Besides, candid photographs are in high demand these days!
Try to capture your subject doing something and when they least expect you to shoot. Great portraits don't always have the subject looking straight into the camera.
It could be that they're focused on something or even looking at or chatting with you or another subject. It's typically a good idea to chat with your subject throughout the session. It can make them feel more comfortable.
Ask them about their favorite genre of music and play it in the background during the session.
If there's a relevant prop to offer the subject, do so. This is especially successful when you're working with children. Ask the parents to bring to the photo session a beloved toy like a stuffed bear. Some of the most endearing portrait photographs are ones that contain a family heirloom.
While you don't want to pose your subject, there are a few angles or body positioning that can improve the composition and, ultimately, the image. You should only try these with a subject who is comfortable with the camera and is likely to feel okay with some minor posing. Think of the letter "S": If the subject drops one shoulder slightly, the hips will tilt in the opposite direction. (The aim is to disrupt the parallel lines created by the left and right sides of the body.) This is a flattering position for most subjects.
Working with Color
Oh, to color or not to color! This requires a conversation with your client to decide what kind of portrait they would like to see - a vibrant one or a calmer image. The subject's clothes and the color of the clothing will greatly influence the overall mood of the portraits.
Vivid colors (such as reds, yellows, and purples) create an energetic image, making the picture more casual.
On the other hand, earth and neutral tones (such as whites, blacks, and browns) create a far more subdued image.
As a photographer, your job is to ensure that you accurately capture whatever colors the subject has opted to wear. This also applies to background colors. Use your camera's white balance in coordination with the available light to ensure accuracy. Artificial light might mean setting it to Tungsten, while bright natural light would mean setting it to "sunny."
The camera will then adequately compensate. Just in case, we recommend shooting in RAW, so you have more control later when editing.
Lighting
Try to rely on natural light rather than artificial lighting, particularly if you are a less experienced photographer.
Move your subject near a natural light source like a glass door or a window.
If you are shooting outdoors, it's best to shoot during the "golden hours" - just after sunrise and just before sundown. Indirect or diffused light is best for portrait photography.
Diffused or soft light is ideal for portraits because it far more forgives on the skin and blemishes.
Avoid direct, bright light rays on your subject. It much less forgives on appearance, can create harsh shadows, making it more difficult to produce a great portrait if you are less experienced.
When setting the exposure, aim for the subject rather than the background, which would leave the subject too dark.
Camera settings
If you're shooting portraits, you're probably also (hopefully) shooting on manual. This means you're working with your camera's settings.
Let's start with the aperture. It controls the depth of field (how much of the scene is in focus). For example, an aperture of f/16 sharpens almost everything sharp from foreground to background. An aperture of f/1.4 will sharpen on a small area of the composition. The rest of it is blurred. You'll set your aperture according to what your needs for the image are. In other words, how much do you want in focus?
To sharpen all or most of the image, go with narrow apertures such as f/8, f/11, or f/16.
If you only want the subject in focus and background blurred, go wider: f/1.4, f/2.8, f/3.2.
This can take some experimenting to develop a sense of how the aperture works and which setting you prefer. Our suggestion is to use various apertures. You might be surprised to see that the image you prefer isn't the one you thought while shooting.
Now let's take a look at shutter speed, which determines whether any motion is stilled or blurred. A fast shutter speed (let's say 1/1000 sec) is so short that it freezes all motion. On the other hand, a slow shutter speed (such as 1/10 sec) will blur - if either the subject or camera is moving. If you want to avoid blur, you typically want to keep the number the same as the focal length of the lens you're using.
For example, suppose a photographer is holding the camera and shoots at 1/10 sec shutter speed on a 50mm lens. In that case, they will incur a camera shake that causes some blur. Why?
Because they can't keep the camera in their hands still enough. To avoid this, just set the speed at the length of the camera: 50mm lens = 1/50 sec, 200mm lens = 1/200 sec. Use this to guide you, but know that it's flexible, as long as things are steady you could go down to 1/20 sec hand holding a 50mm lens without any blur.
Get creative
Let's face it. There isn't a photographer in the world that doesn't like buying a camera or gear accessories. While you don't strictly need them for portrait photography, accessories can improve your work. There are some simple things you can buy or pickup that can improve an image.
Filters are always fun to try but can be very expensive. It is possible to try some homemade versions of a filter to mimic the effects without laying out a ton of cash. Try something translucent that you can shoot through to add a diffused look. It could be plastic (like plastic wrapping) or translucent paper.
Instead of translucent, go solid. Shoot through a circular object as if shooting through a peephole. Frame your subject by using other objects in front of your lens.
For an ethereal look, dry ice or smoke of some kind works well to add a cloudy-effect to the image.
