There are a few specific ways to learn how to take portraits of people, and I'm going to share some of those tips with you today. Lighting, composition, digital camera settings and your lens are the right places to start when you begin to take portraits of people. Lighting and lens quality are the first two considerations.
Without good lighting and a specific portrait lens, your people photography can become less than stunning. It is best that you take note of this list I am about to give you so that your portrait photography lasts a lifetime.
Capturing the eyes, skin tone and facial expression are the important elements that make up a good portrait of somebody. The beauty about portrait photography is that you can do it as a candid photo as opposed to a portrait image in a studio. Someone's cheerful facial expression combined with high-quality lighting and a sharp lens can be a major ingredient in successful portrait shots.
You don't always require a studio to take good quality portrait photography. You can capture portraits outdoors, or indoors even without a professional photography studio. I have shot many photographs of clients in many diverse situations. They have all been slightly different portraiture photos but they are still portrait photography. A different scene doesn't mean they are not portraits.
So what are these different locations and situations? I have photographed photos of people on the stage, collecting their citizenship certificates from the mayor, relaxing beneath a tree beside a lake, celebrating their birthday, getting married and smiling at their loved one when they didn't think they were being photographed. All these different situations structure portrait photography. So let's get started...
The best lighting for Portrait Photos
Let's start with the most important thing in portrait photography. If you want to learn how to take good portraits then this is where you start. Lighting will either create or fracture your portrait shot. You have to have just the right amount of lighting to accentuate the person you're taking beautiful photos of.
Lighting also has an effect on mood and feeling. When you opt for lighting that is gentle and dim this may possibly create a more romantic mood. When you go for lighting that is very brilliant and high in contrast, this is important for things like sports portrait photography. If you want to create a romantic sentiment in your portrait photography then think about softening your lighting. Creating gentle light can make portrait photography more interesting.
Choose the lighting that is suitable to the location. Wedding photography that has filtered lighting can work very well. However if you are photographing some kids in the park, then you might want to choose a vivid and colourful lighting effect. Something that is bright and colourful can represent joy and playfulness. A sense of fun can be encouraged by the right lighting.
So what about situations where lighting is poor? I have been in many situations before where it has been almost no lighting and I have not been able to use the flash. In this situation you may want to turn your ISO up to the maximum setting. If you can use your flash then by all means, do so.
Don't stand too close to the person you're photographing and discharge the flash as well. Depending on what flash you have you may be able to have distinct intensities of flash light being fired. Or if you have flash built into the camera you may not be able to change the intensity of the light. This depends on the camera on the sort of flash you have. If you stand too near to the person you are going to overexpose the skin tone on their face, create small, bright areas of light on their cheekbones and nose. No matter how much you try you may not be able to get rid of it in Photoshop.
If you are photographing your friend at a party at night-time, and the flash is the only source of light you have, then make sure you stand back from the person. Any closer than 3 meters may overexpose the person. You also don't want to blast them with an eye full of intense, bright light. I prefer to use a long telephoto lens and use the flash simultaneously. I like to stand back and zoom in, and increase my flash up to the maximum intensity. Whenever I've done this I have found that I have a nice light over the persons features.
Bouncing the flash is a great method for portrait photography. When you bounce the flash you basically twist the head of the flash up to the ceiling, or towards a wall, and allow the light to bounce from that source back to the person. Bounced light is softer and a lot better for portraits. It is a wonderful way to get better portraits at wedding ceremonies, birthdays and celebrations.
Always remember that your lighting must be well balanced. You need even lighting over your person's face to create an appealing portrait photo. Even if you have the best lens and camera in the world, it won't help you at all unless you have the light spread evenly across the persons features. This accentuates the eyes and smile.
Colour for Portrait Photography
Colour portrait photography covers many things. Wedding photography is a traditional model of this. As I have spoken about your lighting and things that you can do with your lighting, I will now discuss colour.
The tips to colour portrait photography are of course your light but is also colour matching. For example, if you want to create a beautiful colour portrait then you would not only expose the light suitably, but you would make sure that the colours complement. This is a big secret that us photographers have up our sleeve. Let me elaborate.
Colour portrait photography is successful when all the colours complement each other within the single shot. If you want to create a colour portrait that stands out then select colours that go well with the person's skin tone. Let's take the example of a woman with light-colored hair, light skin and green eyes. If you were to dress her in black it would not look good on her at all. However earthy Greens, light pink, cobalt and purple, will suit her complexion.
Someone who has dark hair, dark skin and brown eyes may be suited to other colours. They may look brilliant in white, black or other contrasting colours. The secret that portrait photographers use when creating beautiful portraits are colour matching methods.
If you're photographing multiple people in your portrait photography then it always looks nice to dress people in either the same or very similar colours. A family photographed on the seashore might look good all dressed in white, blue and yellow. It doesn't have to be the same white, blue and yellow, but if you keep with the equivalent colour theme then you will make a start to create beautiful portraits.
Good Camera Settings for Portraits
The Exact Camera Settings For Portraits Depends On Your Light. It is quite tricky to tell you what the ideal camera settings for portraits actually are. You see digital camera settings are the way they are because of the light that you have to work with. If I tell you that F-20 and a shutter speed of 125 is the perfect setting then your portrait shot could be highly inaccurate if you are photographing people at night time with the flash for example.
However I can tell you that your aperture can be a big impact on your portrait photography. If you are photographing someone up close and want to blur the background then I would support you to examine a large aperture. F 4 might be a better place to start. When you zoom into someone's face and you use a large aperture, you may see that the background is totally out of focus. This works very well when there are distracting things in the background that you want to eliminate. It works very well when you just want to focus on the person's eyes.
So what about shutter speed? Again it is dependent on the lighting you have to work with. It also depends on if you are taking candid portraits or whether you are taking posed portraits. The difference will be the amount of motion and movement. Candid portraiture can at times be complicated in low light and this can create trouble in finding the precise shutter speed. The camera may be telling you that it wants you to slow down the shutter speed. However, you know that if you do, you will totally blur the person. And that may not be ideal for the situation.
If you are photographing your portrait photo in studio lighting then these things are not going to be a big setback. You will however still need to watch your shutter speed because even the slightest motion at a slow shutter speed can create blurry photos. Decide on the shutter speed that is fairly fast so that you will not have to worry about blur from any movement.
So as you can see camera settings of portraits is not a black-and-white topic, excuse the pun. You need to work out the right camera settings to your portraits based on the lights but you have to work with. As I talked about portrait photography covers a wide range of areas and conditions so it is ideal that everything is well exposed and that you have the precise shutter speed to complement the movement.
Which Is the Right Lens for Portraits?
Being a professional photographer means I have many lenses to choose from. I have many lenses because it gives me the ability to be flexible in every situation. This does not mean that you have to hurry out and acquire different lenses yourself. I recommend trying out portraits with one lens so that you get comfortable with how your lens works with people shots.
Different lenses give different effects. A 50 mm fixed focal length lens is a good focal length for portrait photography. You can get up close to someone without making their nose look too huge as wide angle lenses sometimes do. In fact I suggest staying away from ultra wide-angle lenses for your portraits. You must to be able to get a good head and shoulders shot, middle crop or nice vertical length shot. You can achieve this using a few lenses.
I guess I would have to say that my favourite portrait lens is the 70 to 200 mm cannon telephoto lens. I am a Canon user however I have used Nikon in the past and found both of them outstanding. Nikon also has a 70 to 200 mm telephoto lens that I found superb. At this focal length you can take great candid photos of people and you can also use this lens to take clear studio shots as well. You probably don't need a focal length that is so long if you are working in the studio. Your 50 to 70 mm range will probably do quite well.
Why do I love 70 to 200 mm? Simply because it gives me the versatility of zooming in quite close to someone and it also gives me the flexibility to take candid shots in communal conditions. I find the flexibility and adaptability of this focal range very handy indeed. I see photographers that take a couple of cameras to a wedding because they have numerous lenses that they want to shoot with. I find the 70 to 200 mm range does the job just fine.
These are costly lenses. This is a specialized capability lens so I recommend becoming very familiar with the lens you have before buying something like this. I also have a 24 to 105 mm lens that works very well for portrait photography too. I only have a preference to use the 70 to 200 mm because many times I do candid portraiture. Having that extra focal length of 200 mm lets me to get a little bit closer than I could with a 105 mm.
I have also photographed photos of people with the 50 mm lens that have worked fantastically. However I can't really do this in a candid setting. I simply can't get in close enough without being noticed. When I have done animal portraits and ordinary human portraits, I found that the 50 mm prime lens was a beautiful lens to use. If someone knows they're going to be photographed then they will definitely sit still for you. The 50 mm prime lens is sharp and clear for posed portraits up close.
Basically, I would have to say that it is dependent on the type of portrait photography that you are doing, as to what lens to use. Try and get a lens that works suitably for the type of portraits you shoot.
Helpful Creative Portrait Photography Ideas
There are lots of resourceful portrait photography ideas that you can use undoubtedly and swiftly. Here are a few ideas that you can use. I use them in my portrait photography so please feel free to use them as well.
Candid portraiture ideas
Two or more family and friends talking together and joking
Somebody playing their instrument
Playing with the cat, For example throwing a ball of yarn or peice of string
Reading
Sitting on the riverbank waiting for a fish
Doing something they adore, like perhaps painting, playing Soccer, etc
Posed portrait photography:
Leaning on a lovely old tree and looking at the camera
Sitting on a park bench with gorgeous plants behind them
Being photographed, tightly cropped, with flowers around them
Relaxing on the beach with the water in the background
Remember too combine black and white as well. Black and white portraits can provide a striking, timeless look to your photographs. And, in a fundamental sense, everybody looks lovely being photographed in black and white. When you come to your post editing, decrease a little of the mid tones, amplify your contrast and you will have a lovely black and white photo.
These are just some ideas that you can use to produce lovely, imaginative portraiture. You will find the more you do it the more creative ideas come. It really is just a matter of preparation and application. You will be successful in no time.
Remember that the key to taking lovely portraits is soft lighting, understanding how to use your digital camera, understanding the camera settings for the light and being able to work properly with people. You do need to be a people person when you specialise in portrait photography. Social skills will be an enormous help for the lifetime of your photography business.
Without good lighting and a specific portrait lens, your people photography can become less than stunning. It is best that you take note of this list I am about to give you so that your portrait photography lasts a lifetime.
Capturing the eyes, skin tone and facial expression are the important elements that make up a good portrait of somebody. The beauty about portrait photography is that you can do it as a candid photo as opposed to a portrait image in a studio. Someone's cheerful facial expression combined with high-quality lighting and a sharp lens can be a major ingredient in successful portrait shots.
You don't always require a studio to take good quality portrait photography. You can capture portraits outdoors, or indoors even without a professional photography studio. I have shot many photographs of clients in many diverse situations. They have all been slightly different portraiture photos but they are still portrait photography. A different scene doesn't mean they are not portraits.
So what are these different locations and situations? I have photographed photos of people on the stage, collecting their citizenship certificates from the mayor, relaxing beneath a tree beside a lake, celebrating their birthday, getting married and smiling at their loved one when they didn't think they were being photographed. All these different situations structure portrait photography. So let's get started...
The best lighting for Portrait Photos
Let's start with the most important thing in portrait photography. If you want to learn how to take good portraits then this is where you start. Lighting will either create or fracture your portrait shot. You have to have just the right amount of lighting to accentuate the person you're taking beautiful photos of.
Lighting also has an effect on mood and feeling. When you opt for lighting that is gentle and dim this may possibly create a more romantic mood. When you go for lighting that is very brilliant and high in contrast, this is important for things like sports portrait photography. If you want to create a romantic sentiment in your portrait photography then think about softening your lighting. Creating gentle light can make portrait photography more interesting.
Choose the lighting that is suitable to the location. Wedding photography that has filtered lighting can work very well. However if you are photographing some kids in the park, then you might want to choose a vivid and colourful lighting effect. Something that is bright and colourful can represent joy and playfulness. A sense of fun can be encouraged by the right lighting.
So what about situations where lighting is poor? I have been in many situations before where it has been almost no lighting and I have not been able to use the flash. In this situation you may want to turn your ISO up to the maximum setting. If you can use your flash then by all means, do so.
Don't stand too close to the person you're photographing and discharge the flash as well. Depending on what flash you have you may be able to have distinct intensities of flash light being fired. Or if you have flash built into the camera you may not be able to change the intensity of the light. This depends on the camera on the sort of flash you have. If you stand too near to the person you are going to overexpose the skin tone on their face, create small, bright areas of light on their cheekbones and nose. No matter how much you try you may not be able to get rid of it in Photoshop.
If you are photographing your friend at a party at night-time, and the flash is the only source of light you have, then make sure you stand back from the person. Any closer than 3 meters may overexpose the person. You also don't want to blast them with an eye full of intense, bright light. I prefer to use a long telephoto lens and use the flash simultaneously. I like to stand back and zoom in, and increase my flash up to the maximum intensity. Whenever I've done this I have found that I have a nice light over the persons features.
Bouncing the flash is a great method for portrait photography. When you bounce the flash you basically twist the head of the flash up to the ceiling, or towards a wall, and allow the light to bounce from that source back to the person. Bounced light is softer and a lot better for portraits. It is a wonderful way to get better portraits at wedding ceremonies, birthdays and celebrations.
Always remember that your lighting must be well balanced. You need even lighting over your person's face to create an appealing portrait photo. Even if you have the best lens and camera in the world, it won't help you at all unless you have the light spread evenly across the persons features. This accentuates the eyes and smile.
Colour for Portrait Photography
Colour portrait photography covers many things. Wedding photography is a traditional model of this. As I have spoken about your lighting and things that you can do with your lighting, I will now discuss colour.
The tips to colour portrait photography are of course your light but is also colour matching. For example, if you want to create a beautiful colour portrait then you would not only expose the light suitably, but you would make sure that the colours complement. This is a big secret that us photographers have up our sleeve. Let me elaborate.
Colour portrait photography is successful when all the colours complement each other within the single shot. If you want to create a colour portrait that stands out then select colours that go well with the person's skin tone. Let's take the example of a woman with light-colored hair, light skin and green eyes. If you were to dress her in black it would not look good on her at all. However earthy Greens, light pink, cobalt and purple, will suit her complexion.
Someone who has dark hair, dark skin and brown eyes may be suited to other colours. They may look brilliant in white, black or other contrasting colours. The secret that portrait photographers use when creating beautiful portraits are colour matching methods.
If you're photographing multiple people in your portrait photography then it always looks nice to dress people in either the same or very similar colours. A family photographed on the seashore might look good all dressed in white, blue and yellow. It doesn't have to be the same white, blue and yellow, but if you keep with the equivalent colour theme then you will make a start to create beautiful portraits.
Good Camera Settings for Portraits
The Exact Camera Settings For Portraits Depends On Your Light. It is quite tricky to tell you what the ideal camera settings for portraits actually are. You see digital camera settings are the way they are because of the light that you have to work with. If I tell you that F-20 and a shutter speed of 125 is the perfect setting then your portrait shot could be highly inaccurate if you are photographing people at night time with the flash for example.
However I can tell you that your aperture can be a big impact on your portrait photography. If you are photographing someone up close and want to blur the background then I would support you to examine a large aperture. F 4 might be a better place to start. When you zoom into someone's face and you use a large aperture, you may see that the background is totally out of focus. This works very well when there are distracting things in the background that you want to eliminate. It works very well when you just want to focus on the person's eyes.
So what about shutter speed? Again it is dependent on the lighting you have to work with. It also depends on if you are taking candid portraits or whether you are taking posed portraits. The difference will be the amount of motion and movement. Candid portraiture can at times be complicated in low light and this can create trouble in finding the precise shutter speed. The camera may be telling you that it wants you to slow down the shutter speed. However, you know that if you do, you will totally blur the person. And that may not be ideal for the situation.
If you are photographing your portrait photo in studio lighting then these things are not going to be a big setback. You will however still need to watch your shutter speed because even the slightest motion at a slow shutter speed can create blurry photos. Decide on the shutter speed that is fairly fast so that you will not have to worry about blur from any movement.
So as you can see camera settings of portraits is not a black-and-white topic, excuse the pun. You need to work out the right camera settings to your portraits based on the lights but you have to work with. As I talked about portrait photography covers a wide range of areas and conditions so it is ideal that everything is well exposed and that you have the precise shutter speed to complement the movement.
Which Is the Right Lens for Portraits?
Being a professional photographer means I have many lenses to choose from. I have many lenses because it gives me the ability to be flexible in every situation. This does not mean that you have to hurry out and acquire different lenses yourself. I recommend trying out portraits with one lens so that you get comfortable with how your lens works with people shots.
Different lenses give different effects. A 50 mm fixed focal length lens is a good focal length for portrait photography. You can get up close to someone without making their nose look too huge as wide angle lenses sometimes do. In fact I suggest staying away from ultra wide-angle lenses for your portraits. You must to be able to get a good head and shoulders shot, middle crop or nice vertical length shot. You can achieve this using a few lenses.
I guess I would have to say that my favourite portrait lens is the 70 to 200 mm cannon telephoto lens. I am a Canon user however I have used Nikon in the past and found both of them outstanding. Nikon also has a 70 to 200 mm telephoto lens that I found superb. At this focal length you can take great candid photos of people and you can also use this lens to take clear studio shots as well. You probably don't need a focal length that is so long if you are working in the studio. Your 50 to 70 mm range will probably do quite well.
Why do I love 70 to 200 mm? Simply because it gives me the versatility of zooming in quite close to someone and it also gives me the flexibility to take candid shots in communal conditions. I find the flexibility and adaptability of this focal range very handy indeed. I see photographers that take a couple of cameras to a wedding because they have numerous lenses that they want to shoot with. I find the 70 to 200 mm range does the job just fine.
These are costly lenses. This is a specialized capability lens so I recommend becoming very familiar with the lens you have before buying something like this. I also have a 24 to 105 mm lens that works very well for portrait photography too. I only have a preference to use the 70 to 200 mm because many times I do candid portraiture. Having that extra focal length of 200 mm lets me to get a little bit closer than I could with a 105 mm.
I have also photographed photos of people with the 50 mm lens that have worked fantastically. However I can't really do this in a candid setting. I simply can't get in close enough without being noticed. When I have done animal portraits and ordinary human portraits, I found that the 50 mm prime lens was a beautiful lens to use. If someone knows they're going to be photographed then they will definitely sit still for you. The 50 mm prime lens is sharp and clear for posed portraits up close.
Basically, I would have to say that it is dependent on the type of portrait photography that you are doing, as to what lens to use. Try and get a lens that works suitably for the type of portraits you shoot.
Helpful Creative Portrait Photography Ideas
There are lots of resourceful portrait photography ideas that you can use undoubtedly and swiftly. Here are a few ideas that you can use. I use them in my portrait photography so please feel free to use them as well.
Candid portraiture ideas
Two or more family and friends talking together and joking
Somebody playing their instrument
Playing with the cat, For example throwing a ball of yarn or peice of string
Reading
Sitting on the riverbank waiting for a fish
Doing something they adore, like perhaps painting, playing Soccer, etc
Posed portrait photography:
Leaning on a lovely old tree and looking at the camera
Sitting on a park bench with gorgeous plants behind them
Being photographed, tightly cropped, with flowers around them
Relaxing on the beach with the water in the background
Remember too combine black and white as well. Black and white portraits can provide a striking, timeless look to your photographs. And, in a fundamental sense, everybody looks lovely being photographed in black and white. When you come to your post editing, decrease a little of the mid tones, amplify your contrast and you will have a lovely black and white photo.
These are just some ideas that you can use to produce lovely, imaginative portraiture. You will find the more you do it the more creative ideas come. It really is just a matter of preparation and application. You will be successful in no time.
Remember that the key to taking lovely portraits is soft lighting, understanding how to use your digital camera, understanding the camera settings for the light and being able to work properly with people. You do need to be a people person when you specialise in portrait photography. Social skills will be an enormous help for the lifetime of your photography business.
About the Author:
Amy Renfrey is a professional photography teacher. She shows you how to take stunning photos every single time you press the shutter, even if you have never used a digital camera before. To discover how to take good photos/ better than ever before visit her website today.
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