Some hints on portrait photography

desantnik

desantnik

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Well, portait(ish) anyway... a friend of mine wants me to take some photos and to be honest given that they don't want to be sitting on a motorbike or driving a car round a track, I haven't got a clue!

Going to be indoors using flash...

I've been reading and picked up some tips, but wondered if anyone can add anything to this (in no particular order) list:

1) Manual white balance to get flesh tones more correct

2) Shoot in raw to give me more scope for horrible mistakes

3) Flash will be only fill, so get the lighting right so it looks correct with the eye.

4) Don't use servo focus

5) For a more pleasant softer look use wide apertures (f2.8 in my case) but make sure your focus point is on the eyes, focus and recompose

6) Shutter speed set to something to freeze the subject (??)

7) Avoid straight on poses by the subject

8) Bounce and difuse flash - maybe use the gel filters too??

9) Try for a pose with all visible joints bent.

10) Eliminate background clutter (sadly this won't be a studio, but a house, but i guess maybe a tidy up would help!)

Anything else I might find useful?

Thanks in advance!
 
The most important thing to getting a good portrait is a good rapport with the sitter. If you can get them to relax in front of the camera, then that's more than half the battle.

Mark
 
Try to diffuse your flash if you can. Bouncing it is one way of doing it but if you don't have a specific softbox (most of us don't!) then you can still diffuse it using something simple like a napkin or a piece of white cloth which can be hung in front of the flash or attached using a rubber band. If you use the flash on manual you can adjust the power output for your new attachment.

Echo what Mark just said, getting your subject to relax can take some time, I usually bin the first shots I take, it's a process and once they start to relax I'll show them some good ones which usually ends up in us being there for ages and taking lots of pics :)

Have fun
 
:wave:One major thing I picked up after entering a shot in my Camera Club comp is to not have the backs of hands showing ...lost 2 marks for that which would have given me a 9 1/2 out of 10. :'(

If the sitter is not a model allow them to do some poses first to see what they are comfortable with. Once they are a bit more comfortable you can direct them to make subtle changes to give you the best shot.

Good luck .. i love doing portait/studio but have only done it a couple of times so I hope my comments help?
 
Cheers guys.

Some things I hadn't thought of there.

My flash (SB-900) came with a slip on diffuser, so plan to use that.

Something else I had been told this week (but forgot to list up there) was to underexpose by 1/3 which kills the glare of the flash, even when diffused and bounced...

If I have time, I might have a play with CLS for some off camera flash... well, maybe not its getting a bit late to try something quite radically new, unless of course my "victim" has plenty of patience!

I think somehow they imagine I'm going to get some studio quality shots... hmmm I don't think so!
 
will you be using any backdrops...
will you be using any props...

will you be doing head and shoulders or full length..

do you know what sort of shots they want..


is there any locations nearby that you can go to .. try the outdoor feel.

just a few thoughts...

fun fun fun alway fun it will make great pics if they are happy:thumbs:


md:thumbs:
 
I've no idea what sort of shots they want to be honest! I have had a list of things they don't want to see though!

Outdoors in probably a no-no given the weather forecast!
 
Hammerhead64 said:
:wave:One major thing I picked up after entering a shot in my Camera Club comp is to not have the backs of hands showing ...lost 2 marks for that which would have given me a 9 1/2 out of 10. :'(
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but that is a load of tosh, and that judge needs to either explain their reasons in a better way or give the real reason he reduced your overall score. A blanket not to have the backs of hands in portrait shots is rubbish! See link below for a portrait with the back of the hands showing!

If the hands add nothing to the image then I could see how marks may be removed for them as they would for any aspect of the image that did not add to it, perhaps they were overexposed (a common problem with caucasian hands in portaits) and took the eye away from the main subject, but without seeing the image who can say.

Blanket statements as do not do this and do not do that, just serve to stifle creativity and as one mans meat is anothers poison, what does not suit one judge may win a competition from another.

Top image, good or bad?
 
Hammerhead64 said:
:wave:One major thing I picked up after entering a shot in my Camera Club comp is to not have the backs of hands showing ...lost 2 marks for that which would have given me a 9 1/2 out of 10. :'(

If the sitter is not a model allow them to do some poses first to see what they are comfortable with. Once they are a bit more comfortable you can direct them to make subtle changes to give you the best shot.

Good luck .. i love doing portait/studio but have only done it a couple of times so I hope my comments help?
Click to expand...




lost me on this one, why not back of hand, in some shots this would be an impossibilty.
 
Eyes.... Focus on the eyes, they are key to drawing the viewer to the image.

Steve

​
 
The reason some people have a problem with the backs of hands (not shared by me I must add) is that if the back of the hand is in the foreground it elongates the hands and puts them out of proportion to the rest of the image. It is true that when viewed, the hand looks longer from the back than if the palm is facing you and it can look strange in SOME pictures but to arbitrarily advise you (and to mark you down for) not to shoot the backs of hands is very weird.

The rule is there are no rules, only guidelines and past experiences :D
 
Watch out for blinkers (avoid pre-flash).

Some advice on hands here.
 
Thanks again folks for the help.
 
kiasdad said:
The most important thing to getting a good portrait is a good rapport with the sitter. If you can get them to relax in front of the camera, then that's more than half the battle.

Mark
Click to expand...

I agree with this one!

I took some shots of my sister in law the other week (for a Christmas pressie), and although the lighting was good and the shots came out as I wanted, she was very tense in front of the camera. Funny really, I've known her a long time, but she was VERY camera shy.

On the other hand, her son didn't seem to know how to pose, and screwed his face and we found it difficult to get a natural pose out of him! What a nightmare that was!

For me, this is the hardest part of portrait - not the technical stuff, but getting people to relax - maybe its me! :cuckoo:
 
I completely agree.

I have been seeing a girl for a couple of months now, it was photography that brought us together, I knew her from school about 10 years ago, we met up recently as she wanted some photos and had seen some of my stuff on Facebook.

Anyway, 2 months and a couple of shoots down the line, we BOTH still feel incredibly nervous when doing shots, despite being comfortable at...ahem..other times!

I have learnt that I am terrible at directing a model. Something I HOPE will improve over time. Luckily we are very comfortable in each others company so that helps a lot, but we are still sometimes a little stuck on 'what' to do at a shoot, possibly lack of my creativity or the fact that the shoots we have done haven't been particularly well though out.


EDIT: oh blimey, sorry for the massive thread revival, I didn't even check the dates, I just found this thread from searching for 'portrait poses' :p
 
hotchef23 said:
lost me on this one, why not back of hand, in some shots this would be an impossibilty.
Click to expand...

its a painting thing...hands are hard to portray
so in portray-its...i guess its been carried over

if your shot is of hands then that is different

usually i go for the neck up
 
if you have a shallow DoF don't focus and recompose as you can move the camera too far and screw up focus (done this one :D)
 
I'd be looking for window light and use a reflector myself.....

This is just window light (Mrs Radiohead, post make-over by our then 5 year old daughter :D )

2382537462_7652996d0e_o.jpg


as is this

3164860734_dae9521ecd_o.jpg
 
ScarySquirrel said:
I completely agree.

I have learnt that I am terrible at directing a model. Something I HOPE will improve over time. Luckily we are very comfortable in each others company so that helps a lot, but we are still sometimes a little stuck on 'what' to do at a shoot, possibly lack of my creativity or the fact that the shoots we have done haven't been particularly well though out.


EDIT: oh blimey, sorry for the massive thread revival, I didn't even check the dates, I just found this thread from searching for 'portrait poses' :p
Click to expand...

:clap: for the thread revival.:)

If only I lived closer to you, or you to me I could help with that stuff! grrr.

Having said that I absolutely abhor having my pic taken and avoid it at all costs! lol
 
AliB said:
:clap: for the thread revival.:)

If only I lived closer to you, or you to me I could help with that stuff! grrr.

Having said that I absolutely abhor having my pic taken and avoid it at all costs! lol
Click to expand...

Oh that's a shame. I've signed up to Model Mayhem so perhaps when I am more confident I can get some willing models to help me out on there in trade for pictures.
 
No worries about kicking this one back up again.

Nine months on, I still haven't done the shoot... I have learnt a fair bit more and got some killer ideas from "the Hotshoe Diaries" and a big box of photography mags my mate gave me...

Will have to see if I can remember all of it when (finally) my friend decides her social life has a flat spot :D
 
Hammerhead64 said:
:wave:One major thing I picked up after entering a shot in my Camera Club comp is to not have the backs of hands showing ...lost 2 marks for that which would have given me a 9 1/2 out of 10. :'(
Click to expand...

eh?

bizarre?

that's what's wrong with camera clubs they set empirical rules for non-empirical subjects
 
Dragging the subject back to hands a little....
my interpretation of the backs of hands being a no-no, is that ist not neant to be taken quite so literally.
Think of the rule we all adhere to with people 'if it bends break it' (limbs) well its the same with hands, they need to be softened/angled... flat backs of hands draw your eye and generally make for an unattrictive image... believe me I know, having started out with my photography doing shots for nail competitons and struggling to get attractively positioned shots of hands.

This is a prime example of one of my very early shots where I couldnt get the model to relax her hands while showing the nails, beautiful girl... could have been a beautiful picture... but oh those hands!!!!

2281768487_c78911f126_o.jpg
 
InaGlo said:
Dragging the subject back to hands a little....
my interpretation of the backs of hands being a no-no, is that ist not neant to be taken quite so literally.
Think of the rule we all adhere to with people 'if it bends break it' (limbs) well its the same with hands, they need to be softened/angled... flat backs of hands draw your eye and generally make for an unattrictive image... believe me I know, having started out with my photography doing shots for nail competitons and struggling to get attractively positioned shots of hands.

This is a prime example of one of my very early shots where I couldnt get the model to relax her hands while showing the nails, beautiful girl... could have been a beautiful picture... but oh those hands!!!!

2281768487_c78911f126_o.jpg
Click to expand...

perhaps the judge thought there were distracting elements to detract from the sitters personality or beauty:)
 
on the subject of hands as well...the backs of mens hands showing the veins and rough skin... where not clearly desirable on some female portraits...can contribute to the skin textures as well on the facial areas without detracting from the sitters 'pose'



the bride's father...
 
The shot I refered to earlier in the thread was taken at the end of my 3 mins in the CC shoot, so I was not intending it to be a perfect portrait. It did in fact produce a shot that to me refected some of the character of the subject (who I might add was not a professional model or had even done a model shoot before).

The comment from the judge was not taking any of this into account but it did give me some vital feedback as he explained the reason much as some of the reasons pointed out above. I am doing a lot more portraits/studio shoots and this is one thing that I can now correct when getting the subject into position.

Paul
 
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