What Should You Know About Portrait Photography?
There are many photographers around the world that have fallen in love with human beauty and tried to express it in their photos. It’s not that hard to focus your lens on a person’s face and give it a shot, but there are a million of photos that are complex, have a great deal of thought behind and most importantly, they send out a strong message.
People are always a fascinating subject to photograph due to the fact that there are many features and details that can be highlighted in a certain picture. Some focus on the eyes, others on the face, there are some who capture just the torso and so on. It’s really up to the photographer to decide which the best shot is in that particular case. Of course, the lighting matters as well, because it can actually change everything about a certain picture. Here are some tips on how to enhance your experience and make your photos a lot better:
The Skin
The skin of the person is an important detail to consider when it comes to portrait photography. Basically, there are people who have light skin and that can be a problem with certain adjustments at the camera. The best advice here is to brighten up the subjects by using Exposure compensation. This means that you can dial up to +1 or even further in order to make the faces of the subjects a lot more visible. Do not believe that you can use a phone that you got cheaper because of a subscription as the skin options are limited. An actual camera is always better for portrait photographs.
The Focus
Many photographers these days don’t know much about how to play with focus and bring forth only certain areas of a subject. In order to learn how to use this particular tool, one should learn how to use the single autofocus point. This means that a certain area of the photo will be targeted and the rest will be blurred.
The Flash
One might think that using the flash on daylight is a waste of time, energy and even space, but if you really know what to do when it comes the flash, your subjects will actually be much more vivid. Basically, you can use the flash to highlight the subject and the exposure to play with the background. The combination is quite interesting and the colors are amazing. (of course, it depends on the background and the subject)
The Rapport
Taking pictures of someone is much more than actually pointing the camera in their direction. You need inspiration and so much more. It’s all about establishing rapport and creating a very comfortable environment in which the subject gets photographed. There are many ways to get a person to feel natural and familiar around you while taking their photos. One example is to start a conversation on a certain topic for a few minutes and then start taking photographs of the person without stopping. The idea is to talk and shot, talk and shot. It has done wonders for many subjects that were too shy to be photographed.
To conclude, a picture that illustrates a person is one of the most incredible ways to highlight someone’s beauty, even if a certain detail of the face or the body is being highlighted. Also, in the event that you actually need some high quality pictures and you are a beginner, it is a smart idea to hire a professional photographer.
