Introduction To Portrait Photography (28p).pdf

Introduction

to Portrait

Photography

Good portrait

photography is the

combination of finding

good light, making your

subject feel at ease,

and understanding a

few basic portrait

photography concepts.

In this course, you'll

learn how to get

spectacular portrait

photographs by

deciding what your

photograph should look

like, finding or creating

good light, determining

appropriate

composition, and

selecting the best

camera settings.

Lessons

Determine the Purpose of Your Portrait

To capture memorable portraits, you must think carefully about why you're

taking the photographs, how they'll be used, and what they should look like

before you begin taking pictures. This lesson shows you how to plan a portrait

sitting.

Create a Pleasing Composition

Once you know the purpose of the image and its use, it's time to focus on

composition. Bad composition can turn an otherwise wonderful photo into an

unsatisfactory image. In this lesson, you lean about photo composition and

posing techniques.

Find or Create Good Light

Photography is all about light. For portrait photographers, the skill of finding or

creating excellent light is essential to making subjects look their best. This

lesson covers lighting techniques and what to do when good light is hard to find.

Select Appropriate Camera Settings

The automatic settings on today's digital cameras do a reasonably good job

capturing images; however, you can greatly improve your photos by adjusting

some settings manually. This lesson focuses on shooting modes, aperture, ISO

settings, and more.

Determine the Purpose of Your Portrait

To capture memorable portraits, you must think carefully about why you're taking the photographs, how they'll

be used, and what they should look like before you begin taking pictures. This lesson shows you how to plan a

portrait sitting.

Welcome to the Course

Good portrait photography is the combination of finding good light, making your

subject feel at ease, and understanding a few basic portrait photography concepts. In

this course, you'll learn how to get spectacular portrait photographs by deciding what

your photograph should look like, finding or creating good light, determining

appropriate composition, and selecting the best camera settings.

This course is geared toward consumers with a digital camera and some

experience with manual camera settings who aspire to take stunning portraits.

DSLR Digital Cameras

Here's what to expect in the lessons:

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legendary SLR

technology -- including

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worldwide.

Lesson 1: To capture memorable portraits, you must think carefully about why

you're taking the photographs, how they'll be used, and what they should look like

before you begin taking pictures. This lesson shows you how to plan a portrait

sitting.

Lesson 2: Once you know the purpose of the image and its use, it's time to focus

on composition. Bad composition can turn an otherwise wonderful photo into an

unsatisfactory image. In this lesson, you learn about photo composition and posing

techniques.

Lesson 3: Photography is all about light. For portrait photographers, the skill of

finding or creating excellent light is essential to making subjects look their best.

This lesson covers lighting techniques and what to do when good light is hard to

find.

Lesson 4: The automatic settings on today's digital point-and-shoot cameras do a

reasonably good job capturing images; however, you can greatly improve your

photos by adjusting some settings manually. This lesson covers digital shooting

modes, aperture, ISO settings, and more, while offering tips for point-and-shoot and

DSLR (digital single lens reflex) cameras.

Beyond the lessons, be sure to complete the assignments and quizzes. When you're

done with those, visit the Message Board. It's the perfect place to discuss course

topics and swap questions and comments with other students and your instructor.

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Take a few moments to meet your instructor and fellow students on the course

Message Board, and let them know a little about you.

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controls.

Let's get started with the topics in Lesson 1.

Reveal Personality

Planning is one of the elements that can turn a photograph into a portrait. When

planning a portrait sitting, you should consider several important factors:

The purpose of the portrait

How the portrait will be used

What the portrait should look like

The personality of your subject

Each of these factors have an effect on the final image and are described in detail in

the following sections.

Purpose of a Portrait

DSLR Lenses

There are many different reasons to have portraits taken. Sometimes, a portrait is a

way to document an important event, such as a wedding, graduation, or birth. Other

Wide-range of lenses

for all your

photographic needs.

portraits are meant for display, such as family and fine art portraits. Senior portraits

and children's photos with Santa Claus are often given away as mementos.

Individuals in some careers, such as actors and CEOs, require head shots and

corporate portraits for promotional purposes.

How a Portrait will be Used

You should consider how your photographs will be used. If the portrait will be printed

on a very large scale, you need to capture the image at a much higher resolution than

a resolution meant for Web site viewing.

Digital Camera Filters

Improve image quality

on your camera or

camcorder.

Portraits destined for printed literature should always be taken at the highest possible

resolution.

Portraits to be printed on a smaller scale, such as wallet-sized images, should be

simpler in composition than a portrait destined for larger exposition. A busy image with

several focal points seems cluttered at wallet size.

What the Portrait Should Look Like

What should the final image look like? Will it be a formal or casual portrait? How many

subjects will be included? Where will the photographs be taken -- in the studio,

outdoors, or in some other location? You should answer all of these questions before

you take your first shot.

Consider the Subject's Personality

You need to decide which aspects of your subject's personality you want to reveal.

This decision influences many of the other details of the portrait, including the setting,

lighting, and pose. If your subject is a playful young child, you could arrange the

setting and pose to reflect that. In the portrait of a 2-year-old boy, shown in Figure 1-1,

the subject is posed on a favorite rocking horse. Notice the completely natural

expression on his face -- he's simply playing on his rocking horse, looking at his

mother while the photographer takes pictures.

Figure 1-1: Young child playing.

Because he's forgotten about the camera, his personality is easily revealed. Ideally,

your subject should be relaxed enough to forget the camera or at least be

concentrating on something else. When a subject is fixated on the camera, the

portraits turn out stiff and posed.

Engage your subjects in light conversation -- or, if you're photographing children,

engage them in play -- to help them focus on something other than the camera. This

also gives you clues to their personalities, which can help you arrange poses that

show them authentically.

Now that you've given some thought to your subject's personality and how you might

best reveal it, let's discuss how to tell a story or show activity in a portrait.

Tell a Story or Show an Activity

When planning a portrait sitting, you should always think about the story your

photograph will tell. You've already thought about the personality of your main

character -- your subject. Now you should consider the story behind the portrait:

What does the subject want?

Why is she in this place?

Does she expect to achieve her goals today?

Memory Stick Media

These are all questions that reveal the subject's story and background. The most

interesting portraits are those that excite the viewer's imagination or leave us asking

these types of open-ended questions. We, as viewers, are left to imagine the story

behind the person.

High-speed, high-

capacity compact

media.

Select a Natural Environment

What if your subject simply isn't the type to sit still? Rather than force them into an

uncharacteristic posed portrait, why not photograph them in their natural

environment? An athlete's portrait is often taken on the sports field rather than in a

studio because it's a more comfortable setting for the subject and reinforces that

aspect of his personality as well.

Accessory Kits

If you shoot in a studio, capturing the natural environment might not be feasible;

however, you can include props that show the subject in a characteristic pose or

activity. The portrait of a young child on a rocking horse is a good example. He would

have fidgeted and wiggled too much had the photographer asked him to sit on a

posing table. Putting him on a rocking horse simultaneously entertained him and

revealed his true personality.

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digital camera.

Avoid Trendy Clothing

When planning a portrait, give some thought to what your subject will be wearing. Not

all portraits should be taken with the subjects in formal attire. In the rocking horse

image, the young boy is wearing a casual shirt and denim overalls -- his everyday play

clothes. Clothing is one of the elements that determines the formality and tone of a

portrait, and it should be arranged to match the desired outcome. If the boy's mother

had dressed him in a suit, the result would have been a much different portrait -- more

formal and posed, less candid and revealing.

You should avoid trendy clothing that becomes dated quickly and distracts from the

true subject of the portrait -- usually, the person. Unless you're taking fashion portraits

in which the clothing is the true subject of the photograph rather than the model,

clothing should serve to reflect the subject's personality.

Now that you have thought about the person and the story your portraits will reveal,

let's expand on those ideas and consider portraits with two or more subjects.

Show a Relationship

When you're photographing more than one person, you should always try to show

their relationship. Any time two people interact, they form some kind of relationship.

Are your subjects emotionally close or distant? Is their relationship casual or more

formal? Are they peers or is one person dominant? You can give the viewer clues to

all of these questions using lighting, poses, composition, and other elements.

Taking Corporate Portraits

DSLR Digital Cameras

In a corporate portrait where the subjects are not particularly close emotionally, you

can highlight their professional rather than personal relationship. In the case of a

mentoring relationship, you could arrange the older person slightly behind the

younger, resting a hand on the younger person's shoulder. You would use a sharper,

less-diffused lighting scheme for a corporate portrait than you would for a mother and

child or a wedding portrait in which the intimate personal relationship is the focus. A

group of peers should be posed in such a way that no one seems to dominate the

group.