portraiture

All posts tagged portraiture

15 Misc Portrait Photography Tips

Posted by scottbourne on May 26, 2011
Posted in: Tips. Tagged: .

Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved

Here are 15 random portrait photography tips. Try them before you decide they won’t work :)

1. To make someone look smaller, photograph them from a high angle.
2. To create a dramatic portrait, fill the frame with the subject’s face.
3. Use large objects such as walls as reflectors when you can’t use electronic flash.
4. When photographing men, give them something to do with their hands.
5. Have your subject bring their chin down to make the eyes look larger.
6. When you photograph dark skin, underexpose by one stop.
7. Reflectors are an easy way to balance light on two sides of a subject.
8. Have your subject lean toward your camera. This creates a strong connection.
9. Large light sources placed close to the subject will provide the softest light.
10. Make sure your portrait background is clear of distractions.
11. When shooting a full-length portrait, women usually look better when they are photographed with their ankles crossed.
12. Make sure to focus on the eyes. Everything else can be soft.
13. Keep your subject’s arms away from her body to enhance the waist.
14. When posing someone in a seated position have them sit on their thighs, not their rear end.
15. Make sure to have a minimum of six feet between your subject and background to avoid casting shadows on the background.

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Portraiture – It’s All About The Face

Posted by scottbourne on October 6, 2010
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials. Tagged: , .

Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved

I wrote last week about removing clutter. In that instance I was speaking compositionally. But in today’s post, I want to speak more to aesthetics and storytelling.

To me, a portrait is all about the face. To you, it may be about something else. But when I make the portrait, I tend to get really tight. As I’ve gotten older, I find myself shooting tighter and tighter – getting rid of just about everything in the photograph but the face.

While the eyes may be the windows to the soul, the face is the gateway to the person behind it.

Pablo Picasso spent plenty of time thinking about and painting faces. He once asked, “Are we to paint what’s on the face, what’s inside the face, or what’s behind it?”

The “what’s behind” the face part is what really interests me. When I make a portrait, and concentrate on the face, I want to cause a reaction between myself, the subject and the viewer. The three of us are involved in an interplay. The subject is hoping that I will represent them in either a truthful or more often, flattering manner. I am hoping to protect a memory of that moment in time. I want to render a photograph of someone that is so well done, it could stand as the last image ever made of that person. The viewer is someone who walks into the middle of this story and decides whether or not they care. Of course the goal is to make sure they do.

And that takes us back to the face. I am not coining some photographic rule here. I am merely articulating the fact that I am at my happiest, when making portraits of people that highlight the face.

The face, properly rendered, can be the truest form of art. So just for fun, consider making your next portrait the way you always do, then, make one more image and really concentrate on the face. Analyze it. Study it. Protect your memory of it with a photograph. I hope you find it as moving an experience as I do.

I’ll leave you with one more thought from a famous World War II photographer, Robert Capa. “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.”

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Breaking the Ice: Photographer-Subject Relationships

Posted by scottbourne on July 19, 2010
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials. Tagged: .

Guest Post and Images by Stacy Pearsall – Follow Stacy on Twitter

We all have shared an awkward silence with perfect strangers on an elevator. We’d just assume stair at our feet then initiate a conversation. There’s some unwritten elevator law that says no eye contact or talking is allowed.

I’m the wacky person, who actually says, “Hey there, how you doin’?”! I suppose it’s my outgoing-no holds barred style, that helps break the ice. My husband, Andy Dunaway, thinks I’m crazy. I’m sure the people I engage in conversation think the same thing! LOL!

It’s not that I am crazy. I’m just practicing.

Here’s the secret, I’m a bit shy. If you’ve ever met me, you’d probably think I’m pulling your leg. However, it’s true. My heart rate races when I’m in a crowd of people, especially strangers. I’m even more uneasy when it comes to one-on-one.

Over time, I learned to control my nervous response to strangers. I decided that I had to take control of my social anxiety in order to take control of my photo shoots. Ritually before every shoot, I gear my mind up for the encounter. I remind myself that I have to give a bit of myself to my subject in order to get any return. This exchange is extremely important to obtain ease during my photo shoots.

Meeting and interacting with people for me is similar to running a race or a marathon. To counter my introverted nature, I expend energy reaching out to touch strangers physically and emotionally. I greet every subject with a firm handshake, direct eye contact and a sincere smile.

For me, there is nothing worse then shaking a limp hand. I associate a soft handshake as an insecurity or lack of confidence. I suppose my prejudice derived from my days in the military.

As for good eye contact, I find this paramount. We do a lot of non-verbal communication through our eyes. So when my subject is talking, I make sure that I engage him or her through continuous eye contact. I don’t check my watch, cell phone or stare at my shoes. To me, this translates into boredom and disinterest. I want to make sure that my subjects know how important they are to me.

I find that my subjects will reflect the emotions I am exuding. So if I am smiling, they will smile. If I’m nervous, are nervous. With that said, I try not to get overwhelmed during my shoots. I keep my emotions in check. I try to remember to breath as much as possible. When all else fails – stop and take a deep breath.

I have found that the best way to break the ice is to let my subjects talk. If the initial introduction is stiff and forced, I will try and dig out a topic they may be interested in. For instance, on this shoot my subject loved to fish. I asked him about his boat and his fishing excursions. His eyes went wide and smile flashed across his face. From there, the conversational flood gates opened.

I let him talk and engaged him with other personal questions. However, I have found that the best results come when I just listen. I take note of facial expressions in relation to the conversation topic. I use these key topics to evoke emotional-facial responses from my subjects.

In this case, my subject smiled every time he talked about his years in the Navy. I was sure to prompt a smile by asking questions like, “Where were you stationed in the Navy?” or “What type of ships did you work on?”. He would smile and I would get my shot.

In most shooting scenarios, I only have a few precious minutes to break the ice and get my portrait. So all of my techniques are used from the moment I book the shoot to the time I get in my car after the assignment is complete.

Happy subjects equal happy endings. So, bring your camera bag and your smile. Engage your subjects with sincere interest. Listen with keen ears.

If you are shy, don’t despair. I have learned to engage strangers in a non-aggressive way. By the methods above, I have actually established many friendships for life.

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This post sponsored by the Digital SLR Store

It’s All in the Eyes

Posted by scottbourne on March 22, 2008
Posted in: Tips. Tagged: .

kie_eyes.jpg

I have a tendency to shoot at very wide apertures (in the vicinity of 1.8 often). It creates nice soft backgrounds but the cost can be sharpness of the subject. When taking pictures of people, I find that most of the time, we will put up with blur as long as the eyes are sharp. So, when shooting, I make sure to focus there and then re-frame before firing away.

Here, you can see Kie’s left eye is sharp…and the right is mostly sharp (I should have been stopped down a touch). The middle would have led to a sharp nose and blurred eyes…which would not have been usable.