Portrait Notes - Murrieta Valley Unified School District



Portrait Notes

Well we’ve come to the last of our weekly lessons. This one is probably the one that most of you will use the most (not that composition or lighting aren’t always used, but they can be combined with this one too). Portraits are one of the most common types of pictures people take. Not necessarily a formal studio portrait – after all how many of you have professional lighting and backdrops at home – but a portrait meaning a picture of a person or people.

When taking portraits, the most important thing is to make sure the important stuff, i.e. the person/people are what is clearly getting your attention. To do this, remember composition and simplicity. Keep your subject in close or blur the background using depth of field techniques. You can also do this by getting close and/or zooming in. It will also help avoid mergers. You can also be creative with the subject by using rule of thirds and placing them off-center to create dramatic movement. If you are shooting multiple subjects, create symmetry (balance) or to be even more dynamic, move them forward and backwards in front of one-another to create depth and movement. If you want to shoot outdoors and use a scenic area to shoot, try to do creative things with framing and lines too, to create depth and lead your eye to the subject.

As for lighting - the softer the light, the better it will look. If you can shoot indoors without a flash, do so. Just use a tripod and place the light where you want it. You will probably need to adjust the white balance, so be prepared to set that first or edit it later on the computer. If you have access to a reflector, this is a good time to use it to bounce a little light onto the subject, although it must be soft. Try using the dull side of foil taped to a cardboard sheet (be careful with bright light though as it can be blinding). If you are outside, try to keep the subject in the shade with the light behind them. This will help them avoid squinting. To make sure the exposure is right, stay zoomed in close to the subject to avoid having the camera’s light meter read all the background light and change the exposure. If your subject is coming out too dark because of the amount of light in the background, use a flash to “fill” the shadows. This is something that can also be useful if the subject is facing the sun (only do this when you have to). Using a flash in this situation, will help take the dark, contrasting shadows down and give much more even exposure to the subject. If you can take pictures on a partly cloudy or overcast day, you’ll also see better results. Once again use a flash if you want to just brighten things up a bit, just don’t be too close. You can also soften a flash by taping a piece of tracing paper over the flash to help diffuse it a little. It must be very transparent though, so as to not completely eliminate the light. The best time to take picture is during sunrise or dusk when the sun is low and soft. This gives you great colors and keeps shadows to a minimum.

Finally, let’s talk about the subject and posing them. This is a tricky thing because often times, people tend to look stiff as they try to hold still and wait for that moment when the photographer counts to three. This can be avoided by having them look down and when you count to three, they raise their head on the 2 count, smiling as they do so. This will give a more relaxed look and make the picture much better. You should also try shooting from unique angles. Stand over them and have them look up, or turn and look over their shoulder. The only angle to avoid usually, is them looking down as it appears to scrunch the face a little (no double chins wanted, right?). If you can, try to take candid pictures while the subject is acting more natural. This is often the best way to capture that great expression.

The best thing to remember when shooting portraits is to be relaxed and have fun with the subject. This will make them enjoy it and give you the best results.

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