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Posts Tagged ‘portraits’

4 Ways To Make Better Street Portraits While Traveling

19 Apr

One of my favorite things about travel photography is the opportunities it provides to meet interesting people in the street and make portraits of them. Here are some of the things that I have learned that you can put into practice when you are traveling and make street portraits.

Street portraits and travel photography

1. Ask people for permission

It’s surprising how you often get the best results when you ask people for permission to make their portrait. This doesn’t apply all the time – you might see somebody interesting who doesn’t notice that you are there and you get the opportunity to make a great candid portrait.

But more often than not you can get a better result by approaching people and asking permission. The good thing about this approach is that it gives you a great excuse to go up to somebody and ask if you can make their portrait. A good way to phrase it is to explain that you are undertaking a project asking interesting people to pose for you.

Problems can arise with this approach if you don’t speak the local language. But that doesn’t stop you communicating with good body language and a smile. You can point to your camera to indicate you are asking for permission to make a portrait.

It’s worth overcoming the challenges

An alternative approach is to work with a local person who can translate for you. This may be a local photographer who you have made contact with and who is interested in helping you out. Or it may be a fixer who you pay to help you communicate with local people and find photo opportunities that you are unlikely to come across by yourself.

Once you have somebody’s permission you have an immediate advantage that you can spend some time with them to work on creating a good street portrait. For example, let’s say you see an interesting person who is standing in the sun and as a result, the light is too harsh to make a good portrait. If you approach them to ask for permission you can then ask them to stand in the shade so you get the best light.

Street portraits and travel photography

That’s the approach I took with the portrait above, created in a mosque in Delhi. The man approached us in the mosque and explained a few things to us about what we were seeing. When we met him he was standing in the sun. After a few minutes of conversation, we asked if we could make a portrait of him and he said yes. It was easy to find a shady place for him to stand.

2. Photograph character, not beauty

It may be tempting to look for beautiful or handsome people to photograph. And who could blame you? But you’ll create more interesting street portraits full of character if you find interesting people. This means people of both genders and all ages (except children, see next point).

For example, I made the portrait below in the town of San Antonio de Areco in Argentina. This town is famous for its atmospheric bars and gauchos. While taking photos in one of the bars somebody told me there was an elderly couple down the road who loved talking to people and having their photo taken. We went to check out the situation and found the couple sitting out on the street. We had an interesting conversation and I made this portrait.

Street portraits and travel photography

This also shows how you should be open to opportunity. If people are friendly and make suggestions like this, go with the flow and see where it takes you. Interesting things often happen this way.

3. Don’t take too many photos of children

A few years ago I traveled to the town of Tupiza in southern Bolivia. We were walking through the town’s main square and noticed there was a lot of children. It turned out that it was a national sports day and as part of that event, local school children were in the square to participate in sporting activities.

Eventually one of the children noticed that I had a camera and started jumping up and down in front of me, asking me to take his photo. Of course, then other children joined in and soon I had a mob of kids in front of me who all wanted their photos taken. Which I did, and I have a nice memory because of it.

Street portraits and travel photography

Luckily a teacher came along and shooed the kids away. The point of this story is that kids are often easy to photograph, especially in places where they get excited whenever they see a foreigner. But they are not likely to feature in your most interesting or memorable photos.

As a subject, they are too easy. Plus, you have to consider that in some countries local people may view strangers photographing children as suspicious. You’ll get better results by avoiding kids and finding interesting adults.

4. Look for interesting backgrounds

My final tip is to look for interesting backgrounds or places and wait with your camera to see what happens. Have you noticed how some photographers walk rapidly from one place to another, taking photos of anything that catches their eye? The aim of this exercise is to get you to slow down and become attuned to the rhythm of the place you’re in.

If the background is interesting enough, you can wait for somebody to pass by and add an element of human interest. People will usually think that you’re photographing whatever’s in the background and probably won’t even realize they are in the photo.

Here’s an example of that. I found this beautiful scene in Guatemala and waited to see what would happen. Eventually, a man cycled by and I was able to make this photo.

Street portraits and travel photography

Conclusion

When you are traveling with the intention of creating street portraits it takes some work to get the best results. Following the tips in this article, and getting used to approaching people to ask if you can make their portrait will help you a lot with the process.

The Candid Portrait

If you’d like to learn more about street and travel photography then please check out my popular ebook popular ebook The Creative Portrait. Use the code DPS20 for a 20% discount on your first order.

The post 4 Ways To Make Better Street Portraits While Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Video: How to find the best natural light for portraits

18 Apr

How do you find good quality natural light while walking out and about? It’s not always easy, but if you know where to look and what to look for, you can almost always find the perfect light for a portrait. At least that’s what London-based photographer and YouTuber Sean Tucker believes, and he’s created a helpful tutorial for his series ‘Good Light’ that explains what it is you should look for in natural light to make the most of a scene for an impromptu portrait session.

In the six-minute video, Tucker and his friend Sarah hit the streets of London in search for a backdrop for their photo shoot. As tends to be the case with so many street shoots, the pair end up in an alley, where Tucker sets up shop to explain the benefits of this particular scene and why it provides good natural light for the portrait he’s trying to capture.

Tucker hows how the buildings on either side of the alley not only provide good leading lines, but also serve as black flags of sort, helping give depth to the subject by making the natural light more directional. After a few shots, he noticed a problem though: panda eyes. To fix this, Tucker uses a simple white grocery bag his subject had on hand as a reflector. A bit primitive, but as his final image shows, it did the trick.

Photo by Sean Tucker

To wrap up the video, Tucker shows how he went about editing the image in Lightroom CC on his iPad—itself a helpful tutorial for those of us who frequently edit images on-the-go for sharing on social media and beyond.

Watch the full video for yourself up top, and then head on over to Tucker’s YouTube Channel to see more from his popular “Good Light” series. You can also find him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, or read his DPReview Photo Story of the Week.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The dPS Ultimate Guide to Taking Portraits and Photographing People

02 Apr

Have you ever wished that you could take better photographs of your friends and family? Do you love looking at portraits taken by professional photographers, but just aren’t sure how to replicate similar results for yourself? Have you ever felt totally overwhelmed by all the options for photography gear and need someone to help you understand what’s essential for photographing people and what isn’t?

If you found yourself nodding along to any of those questions, this guide is for you! In this dPS Ultimate Guide, we’ll walk through everything from equipment to post-processing, and give you the tools you need to photograph people with confidence!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Equipment

When it comes to photography, the best camera to use is the one you already have. Whether you’re using your cell phone, a point-and-shoot camera, a mirrorless camera, a cropped sensor camera, a full-frame camera, or an old film camera, you can take beautiful photographs of your friends and family. Essentially, don’t let the lack of “ideal equipment” get in your way. In almost every circumstance, you can combine the equipment that you already have with this guide to improve your people photography and portraits.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, in addition to your camera body and basic photography essentials like memory cards, there are a few key pieces of equipment that make photographing people much easier.

If you’re using a DSLR camera, lenses can make a huge difference in the quality of your photos. Most photographers prefer prime lenses for people photography. Although you do have to zoom with your feet, they tend to produce images that are sharper and more vibrant overall.

That said, whether you’re at a wedding or a soccer game, there are times when your subject’s distance from the camera is going to change frequently and quickly. In those instances, a zoom lens may be the best choice for photographing the special people in your life. Here are a few of the most frequently used lenses for portrait and people photography.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Prime Lenses

35 mm lens: This focal length is not great for traditional head-and-shoulders portraits, but it really shines when it comes to capturing people in the context of their surroundings.

The 35mm lens (on a crop or APS-C size sensor) is most similar to the angle of view of human eyes. So it’s a great lens to use when you want to capture what’s happening around you just as you see it. For this reason, the 35mm lens is an especially great choice for street photography as well.

50mm lens: For many photographers, the first lens they purchase after their kit lens is some variety of a 50mm lens. The price and versatility of a 50mm lens just can’t be beaten, and for a lot of photographers, having the ability to shoot at f/1.8 (or f/1.4, or f/1.2) is a huge upgrade from their kit lens.

If you’re shooting with a full-frame camera body, the 50mm lens is great for photographing families and sibling groups. If you’re shooting with a 50mm lens on a cropped sensor camera, it’s a focal length that’s great for portraits and photographing couples.

85mm lens: Most 85mm lenses are extremely versatile, allowing you to fill the entire frame with the subject’s face or backup to include their entire body without distortion. In fact, 85-105mm is known as being the ideal focal length range for portraiture because images captured within those focal lengths tend to be more flattering and have less distortion than images of people captured at other focal lengths.

Additionally, the lens compression with an 85mm lens makes it appear that the background is being pulled closer to your subject, which results in beautiful and dramatic portrait images.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Zoom Lenses

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art Lens: Designed for cropped sensor cameras, this lens has a range that includes many of the most popular focal lengths for photographing people. In addition, the ability to shoot at f/1.8 across all focal lengths makes this lens a powerhouse for both portraits and people photography.

70-200mm: This lens is considered to be one of the standards when it comes to wedding and event photography because of its versatility in capturing people across a variety of focal lengths. The 70-200mm focal range is especially helpful in situations where you’d like to be able to capture genuine emotion without being physically close to the people you’re photographing.

As you’re looking at different lenses for portrait and people photography, keep in mind that to achieve a nice blurred background in your portraits, you’ll often want a lens that’s capable of shooting somewhere between f/1.2 and f/2.8. You’ll notice that lenses capable of shooting at those apertures are more expensive, but this is one instance when the payoff is worth the increase in cost.

If you’re shooting on a cropped sensor camera, remember that you need to multiply the focal length of the lens you’re using by the crop factor (this number is often something like 1.5 or 1.6) to discover the functioning focal length of your lens. So, if you put a 35mm lens on a cropped sensor camera, it actually functions more like a 50mm lens.

Other Helpful Tools

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Reflectors: A 5-in-1 reflector kit will help you tackle a huge variety of lighting situations that you might encounter when photographing people. Not only is it helpful for bouncing warm or cool light on your subject, it also gives you the ability to absorb light and to fix dappled light issues when photographing one to three people.

Alternate light source: Even if you think you’ll only be photographing people outdoors in natural light, it’s a good idea to have some form of an alternative light source at your disposal, whether it’s a speedlight, ring light, or studio lights. We’ll talk more about when and how you might want to utilize different lighting sources a bit later in this guide. For now, just know that having some form of a light source will dramatically improve your versatility as a photographer.

Lighting

Photography is often described as “painting with light”. As such, it’s very important to have a good understanding of the different light sources that you may experience as a photographer and how to best use them to your advantage.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Natural Light

The most basic of all lighting types is natural light. This is as simple as it sounds – all of the light in your photograph is coming from the sun. No additional light source (like a flash) is used.

Photographing using natural light (sometimes also called available light) can mean that you’re shooting outdoors, or it can also mean that you’re shooting indoors near a large window. It can mean that you’re shooting when the sun is high in the sky, or that you’re shooting backlit portraits near sunset.

If you’re new to photography and are struggling with lighting even in natural light situations, grab a friend and try the circle trick, which is a quick and easy way to help teach yourself how to see different natural lighting situations.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Studio Lighting

Another option when it comes to lighting is to utilize studio lighting. This sounds more intimidating than it really is—studio lighting just means that you’re using a flash, stand lighting, and other artificial light sources as your primary source of light for your image.

Professional headshots are often photographed with studio lighting, as are many newborn photography sessions. The major benefit of studio lighting is that you can easily control what the light looks like and ensure consistent lighting regardless of external factors like weather. Studio lighting can also be helpful in creating high-key images with dynamic lighting and lots of contrast.

Using studio lighting does involve a different learning curve than natural light photography, and many photographers feel intimidated by it. However, learning studio lighting is a great way to achieve a solid understanding of a variety of lighting situations, and it’s absolutely worth taking a class or workshop to learn more about it.

Even if you don’t ultimately end up using studio lighting very often, it’s a valuable tool to have in your arsenal.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Combination Lighting

Many photographers utilize a combination of natural light and studio lighting—using available light when possible, and sometimes supplementing with another light source. The most common light source for beginning and intermediate photographers is probably the speedlight.

Using a speedlight in combination with a diffuser is a great way to photograph people indoors in situations where you may not always be able to pose them near a window (think birthday parties, wedding receptions, holiday gatherings, etc.). Another way to use combination lighting is to take your speedlight outdoors and use it as a fill flash for outdoor portraits.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Finding Locations and Backgrounds

When it comes to photographing people, the location and the background that is behind your subject are extremely important. Your backdrop will either enhance your final image or detract from it, so here are a few tips to help you find and choose the best possible locations to compliment your photography.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Color is King

When I’m shooting portraits, I’m most often using a 50mm or 85mm lens, and shooting with a fairly wide aperture (usually somewhere between f/1.8 and f/2.5). Typically, I’m looking for the person that I’m photographing to be in focus, with a nice creamy bokeh background behind them. Because the background is softly blurred, sometimes the color of the background can be more important than what it actually looks like to the naked eye.

A parking garage can look like a less than inspired backdrop through a 35mm lens. But if you transition to an 85mm lens, suddenly the details of the background disappear, and you’re left with a backdrop that appears to be a nice neutral gray tone in portraits. Similarly, a field of weeds can look terrible in person but translates as a creamy golden yellow background in a photograph.

As such, training yourself to consider color in addition to content when looking for potential photography locations is a great trick to have up your sleeve as a photographer.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Memories Matter

One of my favorite ways to choose a photography location is to ask the person you’re photographing to share a location that’s particularly meaningful to them.

Is there a park that their family walks to on Friday nights in the summer? Go there. Does the high school senior you’re photographing have fun memories of picking peaches at a local farm with her parents every summer? Check out that orchard. Is a family bringing home their first baby? Consider shooting at their home instead of a studio.

Choosing locations that have special meaning to the people you’re photographing is a great way to ensure that they’ll be as comfortable in front of the camera as possible, and it’s also a great way to invoke genuine positive emotion. Hearing a song on the radio can take you right back to a specific memory in your life, and so can revisiting locations that have happy memories associated with them!

Don’t be afraid to ask the person you’re photographing if there’s somewhere particularly meaningful to them that could act as the backdrop of your photo session. From the public library to grandma’s famous dahlia garden, to a family friend’s lake house, you might be surprised at what they come up with!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Utilize Geotagging

Several popular websites for photography allow you to search images that have been geotagged by zip code, city, and other identifying factors. Flickr Map is one such resource, and although it can be a real mixed bag in terms of the quantity and quality of images to sort through, it’s a great tool for visualizing what different parts of your area look like at different times of the day and different times of the year.

I wouldn’t recommend choosing a location sight unseen, but it’s a great tool for narrowing down areas that you might want to check out in person. Another option that’s just beginning to gain in popularity is Shootipedia, a location scouting website, and app that allows photographers to post images and share details about their favorite locations to shoot. Some parts of the world have lots of locations cataloged while others have very few. That said, it’s always worth a look!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Go Explore

One of the best ways to discover photography locations near you is simply to get out and explore your area. Go for a hike. Hop in the car and drive around. Print off a listing of all the local public parks, and swing by at different times of the day.

Don’t discount familiar locations either. Chances are that as you begin to look through the lens of photography, you’ll find that there are countless appropriate locations and backdrops right in your own neighborhood.

Clothing Tips and Ideas

Most people can benefit from some sort of direction regarding what to wear when being photographed. However, whether or not you (as the photographer) will be able to offer direction in terms of what to wear will vary based on lots of different factors including the type of people photography you’re doing.

For example, if you’re photographing the attendees at a birthday party or doing street photography, you won’t have as much input into clothing choices as you would if you are shooting portraits.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
In situations where you do have some influence over what the people you’re photographing are wearing, that level of “direction” can range from you purchasing specific pieces of clothing to be worn to simply giving general advice regarding colors and patterns that are flattering on most people.

The level of your direction as a photographer will also be dependent on your personal photography style and whether you offer styled sessions or not. However, regardless of your personal style, there are a few rules of thumb that generally hold true in most instances when photographing people:

  • Neutral colored clothing (black, white, tan, or gray) is always a good choice.
  • Jewel tones are flattering to most complexions.
  • Avoid logos or text on clothing.
  • When incorporating patterns, stick to very classic patterns like plaid or polka dots.
  • When photographing families, it’s better to work with one color family (warm colors, cool colors, jewel tones, neutrals, etc.) than to have everyone wearing exactly the same thing.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

  • Adding or removing jackets and/or cardigans is a great way to add some versatility to a session.
  • If you’re photographing more than one person together, make sure they’re not wearing exactly the same color on top, or it can be difficult to see where one person ends and another begins.
  • If the person being photographed isn’t comfortable in what they’re wearing, it will usually be evident in the photograph.

Most people genuinely appreciate tips and/or feedback from their photographer about what to wear. It helps them relax and feel confident in front of the camera.

All that said, sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. If you’re photographing a toddler that desperately wants to leave her fairy wings on for the photos, you might want to consider giving it a try, even if it goes against your “vision” for the photo. Clothing choice can help enhance a photo, but in most cases, genuine expression in a photo will trump clothing choice any day.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Setting Up Your Camera

This section is especially for beginning photographers. If you have been using your camera’s auto mode, and aren’t even sure where to begin in terms of photographing people it’s designed to give you some ideas to help you start taking more control over your photography and to elevate your photos of people from mere snapshots to intentionally crafted images.

Two of the most frequently used camera modes for photographing people are Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
Aperture Priority

When selecting the Aperture Priority mode on your camera, essentially you select the camera’s aperture, and you’re asking your camera to select the rest of your settings. You can still select your ISO if you wish, or leave it set to auto if you’d prefer that your camera choose that too.

When you select a small aperture number (f/1.8), less of your image will be in focus. When you select a large aperture number (f/8), more of your image will be in focus. If you’re wondering how to create a portrait with a nice blurry background, shooting with a very wide aperture (f/1.8) is one way to achieve that effect.

However, as you add additional people to the image, it becomes trickier to nail the focus on everyone. So one good rule of thumb when photographing small groups is to set your aperture no smaller than the number of people you’re photographing – if you’re photographing two siblings, set your aperture at f/2.0 (or higher). If you’re photographing a family of three, you may want to consider setting your aperture at f/3.0 (or higher), especially if not everyone is on the same plane.

Aperture Priority mode is a great choice for shooting portraits or small groups, wherein the people you’re photographing are not moving too much.

aperture priority portrait - The dPS Ultimate Guide to Taking Portraits and Photographing People

Shutter Priority

Where Aperture Priority mode is great for photographing people who are largely stationary, Shutter Priority mode is great for photographing people that are on the go.

Whether you’re photographing a soccer game and want to freeze the action, capturing a family mid-tickle, or practicing street photography and want to show the blur of people bustling about, Shutter Priority is a great way to either stop action or emphasize movement in people photography!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Working with People

Photographer, aul Caponigro once said, “It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.”

Indeed, there’s a difference between taking a snapshot of a person and creating a portrait that captures the essence of who they are and what they’re about. Often, the difference comes down to the interaction between the photographer and the person being photographed.

We’ve already talked about how location and clothing are two factors that can help the people you’re photographing relax in front of the camera. In addition to those two factors, coupling gentle posing with prompts and questions designed to help the person you’re photographing relax and evoke emotion during the session can be very helpful in capturing images that look and feel genuine.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Posing

If the idea of gently posing the person that you’re photographing feels overwhelming, you may be interested in purchasing the Posing App. This particular app includes over 300 illustrations of various photography poses for men, women, children, and groups, and can be a great starting point when trying to describe to the people you’re photographing what you’d like them to do.

Keep in mind that resources like Posing App are just starting places. Don’t be afraid to modify poses, changing them slightly for variety or to better flatter the person you’re photographing.

Also look here for more posing help:

  • Portraits: Striking the Pose – a dPS ebook.
  • 67 Portrait Poses (Printable) by dPS.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Prompting

Once you’ve got the person you’re photographing situated in terms of posing, the next technique in evoking emotion is to prompt them with questions or statements.

When photographing a child, this might be saying, “Show me your best lion roar!” As the photographer, you’re less interested in the roar itself and more interested in the fits of giggles that usually follow, so be ready with your camera to capture the moment!

If you’re photographing a high school senior, this might mean asking them about their plans following graduation and what they’re excited about. If you’re photographing a newly engaged couple, this might mean asking them to tell you the proposal story. When you’re photographing a wedding, this might mean asking them to practice their first dance for you.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Prompts can be sentimental, but they can also be silly. Ask a groom to whisper his favorite vegetable into his bride’s ear, and watch them both laugh hysterically. These prompting techniques allow you to connect with the person you’re photographing on a deeper level and also help evoke genuine emotion that translates to a stronger photograph.

Culling and Post-Processing

After you’ve snapped the actual photographs, you’ll want to weed out the best images and apply some sort of post-processing to them, even if only sharpening to print. If you shoot in RAW format, you’ll need some sort of software (such as Lightroom or Adobe Bridge) that can recognize RAW file types before you’ll be ready to start culling or editing your images.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Culling

Regardless of the software, most photographers use a process that either amounts to “Editing Out” or “Editing In” for culling images. If following an “Editing Out” process, you go through and deletes all the images that you do not want to edit, and processes the rest. If following an “Editing In” process, you go through and flag all the photos that you’re most interested in editing, and edit only those. This is largely a matter of preference, and neither method is better than the other.

When culling, keep in mind that no one needs 10 images with exactly the same expression, focal length, and camera angle. However, do be aware of micro-expressions, or particular mannerisms that the person you’re photographing may display, and consider including some of those images into your final cut as well. Sometimes, those are the images that capture the essence of a person, even if their eyes are squinty or their nose is a little scrunched.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
Post-Processing

Whether or not to post-process images in digital photography is always the subject of much debate. Personally, as someone who started with black and white film photography, I find the debate to be a bit silly. There was little controversy about dodging and burning in the black and white darkroom to enhance a portrait, so I see little problem with doing the same in the digital medium.

There are many options available for post-processing, but the most common still seems to be Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography package, which includes Lightroom, Photoshop, and a whole collection of mobile apps to download.

Many photographers batch edit their images, using either a preset in Lightroom or an action in Photoshop. If you’re brand new to post-processing, there are a whole host of actions and presets available to purchase, including several great sets from Digital Photography School.

Keep in mind that most actions and presets are not designed to be one-click wonders. They do require tweaks and adjustments for best success, which means that having a basic understanding of Photoshop and/or Lightroom is definitely necessary when it comes to post-processing. This is one area where it’s absolutely worthwhile to check out an online course or eBook in order to understand the basics of post-processing so that you know what the actions and presets are doing, how to tweak them to your advantage, and how to eventually make your own to help you stand out from the crowd.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
Marketing Yourself and Getting Paid Gigs (If You Want Them)

So, you’ve photographed a bunch of friends and family, and now people are starting to tell you that you should start your own photography business! If that’s something you’re interested in pursuing on a full-time or semi-professional basis, we’ll walk through a couple of things that can help make that happen.

Check Your Local Laws

Laws regarding small businesses vary drastically from location to location. Some places require you to have a business license and insurance before getting started. Some require you to register your business name. Others only require that you declare any income received so that you can pay appropriate taxes on it.

Because dPS has readers all over the world, the best suggestion I can give is to contact your local Small Business Association regarding what you need to do to keep your budding business on the up and up. Even if you aren’t ready to officially start your business quite yet, it’s still important to research the requirements (and whether your prospective business name is actually available) before you begin any of these other steps!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Build Your Portfolio

If you haven’t already done so, you need to build a portfolio of your work that you can show to prospective clients to demonstrate your skill as a photographer. Many times, photographers initially build their portfolio by offering to take photos of their family and friends for free in exchange for permission to use them as part of their portfolio.

Another option for building your portfolio is to participate in workshops or photo walks that grant you permission to use the images that you take during the event as part of your portfolio. If you’re interested in photographing weddings, many photographers partner with vendors to photograph several styled sessions before they ever actually photograph a real wedding.

Build Your Brand

Once you have a portfolio that you’re ready to market, you need to have a brand! This step includes coming up with your business name, logo, watermark, a headshot of you, and often a color scheme that you’ll use throughout your online and print materials.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
Build Your Web Presence

One of the next key steps to developing any level of a photography business is to build a web presence so that people can actually find you! This may include many different avenues, such as creating a website, a photography blog, a Facebook business page, and an Instagram account for your brand.

Expand Your Audience

For lots of photographers, their business starts with friends and family and gradually expands out from there as those people recommend you to their friends and family. If you can encourage your friends and family to tag your photography pages on social media as they share your images online, this can be a really great way to expand your audience and reach. Some other easy ways to expand your audience include:

  • Offer a rewards or incentives program for past clients who refer their friends to you.
  • Host a model call on Facebook.
  • Consider running ads on social media targeted to “friends of friends”.
  • Donate your photography services to a cause you care about.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Conclusion

Whew! That was a whole lot of information about photographing people! Although it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the dos and don’ts of people photography, you don’t have to master everything at once!

Use the camera and the equipment you have, pick one tip from this guide, and try it out. At the end of the day, the most important part of photographing people is just to get out there and do it, as often as you can!

The post The dPS Ultimate Guide to Taking Portraits and Photographing People appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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The dPS Ultimate Guide to Taking Portraits and Photographing People

29 Mar

Have you ever wished that you could take better photographs of your friends and family? Do you love looking at portraits taken by professional photographers, but just aren’t sure how to replicate similar results for yourself? Have you ever felt totally overwhelmed by all the options for photography gear and need someone to help you understand what’s essential for photographing people and what isn’t?

If you found yourself nodding along to any of those questions, this guide is for you! In this dPS Ultimate Guide, we’ll walk through everything from equipment to post-processing, and give you the tools you need to photograph people with confidence!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Equipment

When it comes to photography, the best camera to use is the one you already have. Whether you’re using your cell phone, a point-and-shoot camera, a mirrorless camera, a cropped sensor camera, a full-frame camera, or an old film camera, you can take beautiful photographs of your friends and family. Essentially, don’t let the lack of “ideal equipment” get in your way. In almost every circumstance, you can combine the equipment that you already have with this guide to improve your people photography and portraits.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, in addition to your camera body and basic photography essentials like memory cards, there are a few key pieces of equipment that make photographing people much easier.

If you’re using a DSLR camera, lenses can make a huge difference in the quality of your photos. Most photographers prefer prime lenses for people photography. Although you do have to zoom with your feet, they tend to produce images that are sharper and more vibrant overall.

That said, whether you’re at a wedding or a soccer game, there are times when your subject’s distance from the camera is going to change frequently and quickly. In those instances, a zoom lens may be the best choice for photographing the special people in your life. Here are a few of the most frequently used lenses for portrait and people photography.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Prime Lenses

35 mm lens: This focal length is not great for traditional head-and-shoulders portraits, but it really shines when it comes to capturing people in the context of their surroundings.

The 35mm lens (on a crop or APS-C size sensor) is most similar to the angle of view of human eyes. So it’s a great lens to use when you want to capture what’s happening around you just as you see it. For this reason, the 35mm lens is an especially great choice for street photography as well.

50mm lens: For many photographers, the first lens they purchase after their kit lens is some variety of a 50mm lens. The price and versatility of a 50mm lens just can’t be beaten, and for a lot of photographers, having the ability to shoot at f/1.8 (or f/1.4, or f/1.2) is a huge upgrade from their kit lens.

If you’re shooting with a full-frame camera body, the 50mm lens is great for photographing families and sibling groups. If you’re shooting with a 50mm lens on a cropped sensor camera, it’s a focal length that’s great for portraits and photographing couples.

85mm lens: Most 85mm lenses are extremely versatile, allowing you to fill the entire frame with the subject’s face or backup to include their entire body without distortion. In fact, 85-105mm is known as being the ideal focal length range for portraiture because images captured within those focal lengths tend to be more flattering and have less distortion than images of people captured at other focal lengths.

Additionally, the lens compression with an 85mm lens makes it appear that the background is being pulled closer to your subject, which results in beautiful and dramatic portrait images.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Zoom Lenses

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art Lens: Designed for cropped sensor cameras, this lens has a range that includes many of the most popular focal lengths for photographing people. In addition, the ability to shoot at f/1.8 across all focal lengths makes this lens a powerhouse for both portraits and people photography.

70-200mm: This lens is considered to be one of the standards when it comes to wedding and event photography because of its versatility in capturing people across a variety of focal lengths. The 70-200mm focal range is especially helpful in situations where you’d like to be able to capture genuine emotion without being physically close to the people you’re photographing.

As you’re looking at different lenses for portrait and people photography, keep in mind that to achieve a nice blurred background in your portraits, you’ll often want a lens that’s capable of shooting somewhere between f/1.2 and f/2.8. You’ll notice that lenses capable of shooting at those apertures are more expensive, but this is one instance when the payoff is worth the increase in cost.

If you’re shooting on a cropped sensor camera, remember that you need to multiply the focal length of the lens you’re using by the crop factor (this number is often something like 1.5 or 1.6) to discover the functioning focal length of your lens. So, if you put a 35mm lens on a cropped sensor camera, it actually functions more like a 50mm lens.

Other Helpful Tools

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Reflectors: A 5-in-1 reflector kit will help you tackle a huge variety of lighting situations that you might encounter when photographing people. Not only is it helpful for bouncing warm or cool light on your subject, it also gives you the ability to absorb light and to fix dappled light issues when photographing one to three people.

Alternate light source: Even if you think you’ll only be photographing people outdoors in natural light, it’s a good idea to have some form of an alternative light source at your disposal, whether it’s a speedlight, ring light, or studio lights. We’ll talk more about when and how you might want to utilize different lighting sources a bit later in this guide. For now, just know that having some form of a light source will dramatically improve your versatility as a photographer.

Lighting

Photography is often described as “painting with light”. As such, it’s very important to have a good understanding of the different light sources that you may experience as a photographer and how to best use them to your advantage.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Natural Light

The most basic of all lighting types is natural light. This is as simple as it sounds – all of the light in your photograph is coming from the sun. No additional light source (like a flash) is used.

Photographing using natural light (sometimes also called available light) can mean that you’re shooting outdoors, or it can also mean that you’re shooting indoors near a large window. It can mean that you’re shooting when the sun is high in the sky, or that you’re shooting backlit portraits near sunset.

If you’re new to photography and are struggling with lighting even in natural light situations, grab a friend and try the circle trick, which is a quick and easy way to help teach yourself how to see different natural lighting situations.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Studio Lighting

Another option when it comes to lighting is to utilize studio lighting. This sounds more intimidating than it really is—studio lighting just means that you’re using a flash, stand lighting, and other artificial light sources as your primary source of light for your image.

Professional headshots are often photographed with studio lighting, as are many newborn photography sessions. The major benefit of studio lighting is that you can easily control what the light looks like and ensure consistent lighting regardless of external factors like weather. Studio lighting can also be helpful in creating high-key images with dynamic lighting and lots of contrast.

Using studio lighting does involve a different learning curve than natural light photography, and many photographers feel intimidated by it. However, learning studio lighting is a great way to achieve a solid understanding of a variety of lighting situations, and it’s absolutely worth taking a class or workshop to learn more about it.

Even if you don’t ultimately end up using studio lighting very often, it’s a valuable tool to have in your arsenal.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Combination Lighting

Many photographers utilize a combination of natural light and studio lighting—using available light when possible, and sometimes supplementing with another light source. The most common light source for beginning and intermediate photographers is probably the speedlight.

Using a speedlight in combination with a diffuser is a great way to photograph people indoors in situations where you may not always be able to pose them near a window (think birthday parties, wedding receptions, holiday gatherings, etc.). Another way to use combination lighting is to take your speedlight outdoors and use it as a fill flash for outdoor portraits.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Finding Locations and Backgrounds

When it comes to photographing people, the location and the background that is behind your subject are extremely important. Your backdrop will either enhance your final image or detract from it, so here are a few tips to help you find and choose the best possible locations to compliment your photography.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Color is King

When I’m shooting portraits, I’m most often using a 50mm or 85mm lens, and shooting with a fairly wide aperture (usually somewhere between f/1.8 and f/2.5). Typically, I’m looking for the person that I’m photographing to be in focus, with a nice creamy bokeh background behind them. Because the background is softly blurred, sometimes the color of the background can be more important than what it actually looks like to the naked eye.

A parking garage can look like a less than inspired backdrop through a 35mm lens. But if you transition to an 85mm lens, suddenly the details of the background disappear, and you’re left with a backdrop that appears to be a nice neutral gray tone in portraits. Similarly, a field of weeds can look terrible in person but translates as a creamy golden yellow background in a photograph.

As such, training yourself to consider color in addition to content when looking for potential photography locations is a great trick to have up your sleeve as a photographer.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Memories Matter

One of my favorite ways to choose a photography location is to ask the person you’re photographing to share a location that’s particularly meaningful to them.

Is there a park that their family walks to on Friday nights in the summer? Go there. Does the high school senior you’re photographing have fun memories of picking peaches at a local farm with her parents every summer? Check out that orchard. Is a family bringing home their first baby? Consider shooting at their home instead of a studio.

Choosing locations that have special meaning to the people you’re photographing is a great way to ensure that they’ll be as comfortable in front of the camera as possible, and it’s also a great way to invoke genuine positive emotion. Hearing a song on the radio can take you right back to a specific memory in your life, and so can revisiting locations that have happy memories associated with them!

Don’t be afraid to ask the person you’re photographing if there’s somewhere particularly meaningful to them that could act as the backdrop of your photo session. From the public library to grandma’s famous dahlia garden, to a family friend’s lake house, you might be surprised at what they come up with!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Utilize Geotagging

Several popular websites for photography allow you to search images that have been geotagged by zip code, city, and other identifying factors. Flickr Map is one such resource, and although it can be a real mixed bag in terms of the quantity and quality of images to sort through, it’s a great tool for visualizing what different parts of your area look like at different times of the day and different times of the year.

I wouldn’t recommend choosing a location sight unseen, but it’s a great tool for narrowing down areas that you might want to check out in person. Another option that’s just beginning to gain in popularity is Shootipedia, a location scouting website, and app that allows photographers to post images and share details about their favorite locations to shoot. Some parts of the world have lots of locations cataloged while others have very few. That said, it’s always worth a look!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Go Explore

One of the best ways to discover photography locations near you is simply to get out and explore your area. Go for a hike. Hop in the car and drive around. Print off a listing of all the local public parks, and swing by at different times of the day.

Don’t discount familiar locations either. Chances are that as you begin to look through the lens of photography, you’ll find that there are countless appropriate locations and backdrops right in your own neighborhood.

Clothing Tips and Ideas

Most people can benefit from some sort of direction regarding what to wear when being photographed. However, whether or not you (as the photographer) will be able to offer direction in terms of what to wear will vary based on lots of different factors including the type of people photography you’re doing.

For example, if you’re photographing the attendees at a birthday party or doing street photography, you won’t have as much input into clothing choices as you would if you are shooting portraits.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
In situations where you do have some influence over what the people you’re photographing are wearing, that level of “direction” can range from you purchasing specific pieces of clothing to be worn to simply giving general advice regarding colors and patterns that are flattering on most people.

The level of your direction as a photographer will also be dependent on your personal photography style and whether you offer styled sessions or not. However, regardless of your personal style, there are a few rules of thumb that generally hold true in most instances when photographing people:

  • Neutral colored clothing (black, white, tan, or gray) is always a good choice.
  • Jewel tones are flattering to most complexions.
  • Avoid logos or text on clothing.
  • When incorporating patterns, stick to very classic patterns like plaid or polka dots.
  • When photographing families, it’s better to work with one color family (warm colors, cool colors, jewel tones, neutrals, etc.) than to have everyone wearing exactly the same thing.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

  • Adding or removing jackets and/or cardigans is a great way to add some versatility to a session.
  • If you’re photographing more than one person together, make sure they’re not wearing exactly the same color on top, or it can be difficult to see where one person ends and another begins.
  • If the person being photographed isn’t comfortable in what they’re wearing, it will usually be evident in the photograph.

Most people genuinely appreciate tips and/or feedback from their photographer about what to wear. It helps them relax and feel confident in front of the camera.

All that said, sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. If you’re photographing a toddler that desperately wants to leave her fairy wings on for the photos, you might want to consider giving it a try, even if it goes against your “vision” for the photo. Clothing choice can help enhance a photo, but in most cases, genuine expression in a photo will trump clothing choice any day.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Setting Up Your Camera

This section is especially for beginning photographers. If you have been using your camera’s auto mode, and aren’t even sure where to begin in terms of photographing people it’s designed to give you some ideas to help you start taking more control over your photography and to elevate your photos of people from mere snapshots to intentionally crafted images.

Two of the most frequently used camera modes for photographing people are Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
Aperture Priority

When selecting the Aperture Priority mode on your camera, essentially you select the camera’s aperture, and you’re asking your camera to select the rest of your settings. You can still select your ISO if you wish, or leave it set to auto if you’d prefer that your camera choose that too.

When you select a small aperture number (f/1.8), less of your image will be in focus. When you select a large aperture number (f/8), more of your image will be in focus. If you’re wondering how to create a portrait with a nice blurry background, shooting with a very wide aperture (f/1.8) is one way to achieve that effect.

However, as you add additional people to the image, it becomes trickier to nail the focus on everyone. So one good rule of thumb when photographing small groups is to set your aperture no smaller than the number of people you’re photographing – if you’re photographing two siblings, set your aperture at f/2.0 (or higher). If you’re photographing a family of three, you may want to consider setting your aperture at f/3.0 (or higher), especially if not everyone is on the same plane.

Aperture Priority mode is a great choice for shooting portraits or small groups, wherein the people you’re photographing are not moving too much.

aperture priority portrait - The dPS Ultimate Guide to Taking Portraits and Photographing People

Shutter Priority

Where Aperture Priority mode is great for photographing people who are largely stationary, Shutter Priority mode is great for photographing people that are on the go.

Whether you’re photographing a soccer game and want to freeze the action, capturing a family mid-tickle, or practicing street photography and want to show the blur of people bustling about, Shutter Priority is a great way to either stop action or emphasize movement in people photography!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Working with People

Photographer, aul Caponigro once said, “It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.”

Indeed, there’s a difference between taking a snapshot of a person and creating a portrait that captures the essence of who they are and what they’re about. Often, the difference comes down to the interaction between the photographer and the person being photographed.

We’ve already talked about how location and clothing are two factors that can help the people you’re photographing relax in front of the camera. In addition to those two factors, coupling gentle posing with prompts and questions designed to help the person you’re photographing relax and evoke emotion during the session can be very helpful in capturing images that look and feel genuine.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Posing

If the idea of gently posing the person that you’re photographing feels overwhelming, you may be interested in purchasing the Posing App. This particular app includes over 300 illustrations of various photography poses for men, women, children, and groups, and can be a great starting point when trying to describe to the people you’re photographing what you’d like them to do.

Keep in mind that resources like Posing App are just starting places. Don’t be afraid to modify poses, changing them slightly for variety or to better flatter the person you’re photographing.

Also look here for more posing help:

  • Portraits: Striking the Pose – a dPS ebook.
  • 67 Portrait Poses (Printable) by dPS.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Prompting

Once you’ve got the person you’re photographing situated in terms of posing, the next technique in evoking emotion is to prompt them with questions or statements.

When photographing a child, this might be saying, “Show me your best lion roar!” As the photographer, you’re less interested in the roar itself and more interested in the fits of giggles that usually follow, so be ready with your camera to capture the moment!

If you’re photographing a high school senior, this might mean asking them about their plans following graduation and what they’re excited about. If you’re photographing a newly engaged couple, this might mean asking them to tell you the proposal story. When you’re photographing a wedding, this might mean asking them to practice their first dance for you.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Prompts can be sentimental, but they can also be silly. Ask a groom to whisper his favorite vegetable into his bride’s ear, and watch them both laugh hysterically. These prompting techniques allow you to connect with the person you’re photographing on a deeper level and also help evoke genuine emotion that translates to a stronger photograph.

Culling and Post-Processing

After you’ve snapped the actual photographs, you’ll want to weed out the best images and apply some sort of post-processing to them, even if only sharpening to print. If you shoot in RAW format, you’ll need some sort of software (such as Lightroom or Adobe Bridge) that can recognize RAW file types before you’ll be ready to start culling or editing your images.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Culling

Regardless of the software, most photographers use a process that either amounts to “Editing Out” or “Editing In” for culling images. If following an “Editing Out” process, you go through and deletes all the images that you do not want to edit, and processes the rest. If following an “Editing In” process, you go through and flag all the photos that you’re most interested in editing, and edit only those. This is largely a matter of preference, and neither method is better than the other.

When culling, keep in mind that no one needs 10 images with exactly the same expression, focal length, and camera angle. However, do be aware of micro-expressions, or particular mannerisms that the person you’re photographing may display, and consider including some of those images into your final cut as well. Sometimes, those are the images that capture the essence of a person, even if their eyes are squinty or their nose is a little scrunched.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
Post-Processing

Whether or not to post-process images in digital photography is always the subject of much debate. Personally, as someone who started with black and white film photography, I find the debate to be a bit silly. There was little controversy about dodging and burning in the black and white darkroom to enhance a portrait, so I see little problem with doing the same in the digital medium.

There are many options available for post-processing, but the most common still seems to be Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography package, which includes Lightroom, Photoshop, and a whole collection of mobile apps to download.

Many photographers batch edit their images, using either a preset in Lightroom or an action in Photoshop. If you’re brand new to post-processing, there are a whole host of actions and presets available to purchase, including several great sets from Digital Photography School.

Keep in mind that most actions and presets are not designed to be one-click wonders. They do require tweaks and adjustments for best success, which means that having a basic understanding of Photoshop and/or Lightroom is definitely necessary when it comes to post-processing. This is one area where it’s absolutely worthwhile to check out an online course or eBook in order to understand the basics of post-processing so that you know what the actions and presets are doing, how to tweak them to your advantage, and how to eventually make your own to help you stand out from the crowd.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
Marketing Yourself and Getting Paid Gigs (If You Want Them)

So, you’ve photographed a bunch of friends and family, and now people are starting to tell you that you should start your own photography business! If that’s something you’re interested in pursuing on a full-time or semi-professional basis, we’ll walk through a couple of things that can help make that happen.

Check Your Local Laws

Laws regarding small businesses vary drastically from location to location. Some places require you to have a business license and insurance before getting started. Some require you to register your business name. Others only require that you declare any income received so that you can pay appropriate taxes on it.

Because dPS has readers all over the world, the best suggestion I can give is to contact your local Small Business Association regarding what you need to do to keep your budding business on the up and up. Even if you aren’t ready to officially start your business quite yet, it’s still important to research the requirements (and whether your prospective business name is actually available) before you begin any of these other steps!

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Build Your Portfolio

If you haven’t already done so, you need to build a portfolio of your work that you can show to prospective clients to demonstrate your skill as a photographer. Many times, photographers initially build their portfolio by offering to take photos of their family and friends for free in exchange for permission to use them as part of their portfolio.

Another option for building your portfolio is to participate in workshops or photo walks that grant you permission to use the images that you take during the event as part of your portfolio. If you’re interested in photographing weddings, many photographers partner with vendors to photograph several styled sessions before they ever actually photograph a real wedding.

Build Your Brand

Once you have a portfolio that you’re ready to market, you need to have a brand! This step includes coming up with your business name, logo, watermark, a headshot of you, and often a color scheme that you’ll use throughout your online and print materials.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography
Build Your Web Presence

One of the next key steps to developing any level of a photography business is to build a web presence so that people can actually find you! This may include many different avenues, such as creating a website, a photography blog, a Facebook business page, and an Instagram account for your brand.

Expand Your Audience

For lots of photographers, their business starts with friends and family and gradually expands out from there as those people recommend you to their friends and family. If you can encourage your friends and family to tag your photography pages on social media as they share your images online, this can be a really great way to expand your audience and reach. Some other easy ways to expand your audience include:

  • Offer a rewards or incentives program for past clients who refer their friends to you.
  • Host a model call on Facebook.
  • Consider running ads on social media targeted to “friends of friends”.
  • Donate your photography services to a cause you care about.

The dPS Ultimate Guide to People and Portrait Photography

Conclusion

Whew! That was a whole lot of information about photographing people! Although it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the dos and don’ts of people photography, you don’t have to master everything at once!

Use the camera and the equipment you have, pick one tip from this guide, and try it out. At the end of the day, the most important part of photographing people is just to get out there and do it, as often as you can!

The post The dPS Ultimate Guide to Taking Portraits and Photographing People appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Tips for Posing People in Outdoor Portraits

25 Mar

Whether you’re photographing an individual or group, having sessions on location can add a lot of variety to your images. Most locations offer natural or built-in elements that are great for posing people without having to move too much.

Almost all outdoor locations have natural or built-in elements that can give you options for where to place your client and add more variety to the session. These can include rocks, walls, trees, benches, bridges, cars, lamp posts, columns, archways, fences, fountains, and staircases. Walls also make for great poses. All of these elements are terrific posing props that make your photos interesting. Use them as much as you can.


Start with a good foundation

After you have chosen the elements with which you want to pose your client, begin your session with a simple foundation pose. This could simply be your client standing still, arms at the hips. From there, you can build upon that pose and make subtle changes to add variety.


Another foundation pose might be having your client stand in the middle of a city walkway, as they would if they were alone. From there you can ask them to bring one arm up to fix their hair while standing still. Then, have them fix their hair while walking toward you. Next, have your client do the same with their arm as they walk, but now looking toward the street. Finally, have them do the same, but this time take two steps, freeze their pose and look at you, as you get close for a portrait shot.

You now have five different poses all in the same location built on the same foundation pose.


Good foundation poses will also help with the dreaded question a lot of photographers get, “What do I do with my hands?” By building from simple poses and keeping your client moving with subtle changes, it helps them to use their hands more naturally.

Keep them moving

Many great poses involve having your clients moving. Have your client’s walk, run, jump, sit, stand, turn around, or spin. When you keep them moving you are allowing for lots of different types of shots all while letting your client walk off the nerves.

You don’t even need to move from the spot you’ve chosen. You could have them walk toward you, walk away from you, sit down, crouch down, lie down, or jump all within 15 feet of where you are standing. Have them use their hands while they move around for more dynamic photos.



Tips for Posing People in Outdoor Portraits

Open spaces without posing elements

If you find yourself at a location, perhaps a beach, where there are no elements to use for posing, it can be difficult to pose hands or keep your client moving.

One way to pose hands in open spaces outdoors is to have your client use them. By this, I mean, have your client play with their hair, adjust their clothing, put on and take off their jacket, glasses, watch, etc. Keeping the hands busy relaxes your client and you’re able to make more natural looking photos without having the pose look too rigid.

Tips for Posing People in Outdoor Portraits


Use the light

Shooting on location can offer lots of changes in light since you are outdoors. Use this to your advantage! Experiment with full sunlight, shadows, found pockets of interesting light shapes.

If you shoot your subject in full sunlight, for example, one pose you can try is to have them look up with their eyes closed, arms folded on their head. Another great pose you could try in full sunlight is to use shadows to create an interesting patter either on your client or behind. Have your client looking down or straight at your camera.

Using the different changes in light around you can give you new ideas on where to put the hands, legs, and other elements of your client to create a more compelling or dynamic photo.

Tips for Posing People in Outdoor Portraits


The same can be applied to the basic compositional rules in photography. Using lines, shapes, patterns, and colors in your background to frame and pose your client as part or to stand out may result in a really interesting photo.

Tips for Posing People in Outdoor Portraits

Conclusion

I feel that posing a client on location is much easier than posing in the studio because you have many elements available to use as props. And remember, shooting many different poses also increases your chances of getting the great shots that will build your amazing portfolio.

The post Tips for Posing People in Outdoor Portraits by Jackie Lamas appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Ben Von Wong used 4,100 pounds of E-waste to create these futuristic portraits

07 Mar

Photographer Benjamin Von Wong recently teamed up with computer maker Dell to try and make recycling “cool.” Together, they took 4,100 pounds of electronic waste and used it to build three futuristic scenes that show how e-waste can be used to power the future of tech instead of languishing in some landfill—in other words: how e-waste can serve as a bridge between the past to the future.

For the past several years, Von Wong has taken his talent for capturing and creating incredible scenes in-camera, and used it to help push for various causes in the world of conservation. That’s how he wound up photographing this model in shark infested waters, or capturing these images of ‘mermaids’ swimming in 10,000 plastic water bottles.

His latest project finds him continuing his quest for conservation and social responsibility, this time alongside computer company Dell.

As Ben explains in his blog post about the project, he got in touch with Dell after finding out that the company has the world’s largest global recycling program. But for all of their cool recycling tech—like, for example, ‘Closed Loop Recycling’ that reuses metals and plastic from old computers to build new ones—the company struggles to get people to recycle.

“After all, how do you convince people that recycling e-waste can be cool?” ask Von Wong. These photos, this project, is supposed to be the answer to that question… or at least the beginnings of a conversation.

Wistron GreenTech gave Ben 4,100 pounds of e-waste to use on this project—the approximate amount a single person will generate over the course of their lifetime—and together with 50 volunteers over the course of 10 days, they build three ‘epic’ sets using simple tools, glue, paint, and wood.

Using keyboards, laptops, and circuit boards, Ben worked together with David Jeter and used forced perspective to try and make the sets look larger than life.

Here are a few behind the scenes photos of the build process:

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And here is what all of that hard work produced. Ten days of building and shooting for just three epic hero shots:

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In Ben’s mind, however, the whole process was definitely worth it.

“It took only 4 hours to clean up 10 days of hard work,” he laments, “but the images will hopefully live on forever and empower every individual to tell their friends and family to Rethink electronic waste, Recycle them responsibly, so that responsible companies like Dell can Revive them as brand new computer parts.”

To read the whole story and see many more behind the scenes photos and details about things like lighting and set design, head over to Ben’s blog by clicking here.

All photographs by Benjamin Von Wong and used with permission.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

01 Mar

Wedding days are super hectic, there’s no doubt about it. My couples and I agree on a wedding day photography timeline so we know exactly what is expected at every hour of the wedding day. Yes, we are flexible but having the order of the day written down is a must for things to go smoothly. This timeline is discussed well before the day and all the key people in the bridal party and key suppliers are made aware of the plan so we are all on the same page.

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

Plan it out

When I sit down with the couple to plan the day, I paint a picture of what a “normal” wedding day looks like and the expected timings allocated to each portion of the day. But I always explain to the couple that it is their wedding day and ultimately, they can do what they want and decide on the duration of each part.

This includes the portrait session of just the bride and groom, nobody else, which usually happens after all the other formals are done. Ideally, the portraits are done somewhere away from the guests so the couple doesn’t get distracted or pulled in different directions which only delays or extends the portrait session. Some couples opt for a “first look” which happens before the ceremony.

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

How much time will the couple allow for portraits?

From experience, depending on their priorities, the time couples allow for their own portraits vary widely, some allow for an hour and a half, but many slot in only 15-20 minutes. A reason for the latter is usually because they wish to spend time saying hello to friends and family especially those who have come a long way to be at their wedding. This is completely understandable and even expected.

I do, however, encourage my couples to always spare some time for bride and groom portraits no matter how little. That is the only time during the day they can be alone and have photos done of just the two of them without anyone else in the vicinity, or worse, in the background.

This doesn’t have to be done at a grand venue or separate location. This could be anywhere that is private, semi-private, quiet, or at the very least away from the guests. It can even be done at the very same location as everyone else, you just need to separate them from the crowd for a few minutes.

Work efficiently by having a plan

On average, my couples allow 15-20 minutes for this portrait session so over the years, I have learned how to get things done very quickly. In this article, I will share with you my secret – have a formula.

Having a formula is not a bad thing. If you worry that all your weddings might end up looking exactly the same, don’t! Each couple is unique and their wedding is unique to them. Besides, if they have booked you after having looked at your portfolio, that probably means they like your style and your work and they expect their photos to have the same look and feel as your other weddings.

Here is my 5 step formula for wedding day portraits

#1 – The couple together

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

I usually start the portrait session by taking photos of the couple together either holding hands, embracing, posed together for a natural look, or posed for a formal portrait. Being photographed with someone else is less daunting than solo and they have each other to hold on to or lean against in case they feel awkward especially at the start.

This part doesn’t have to be all posed either. It’s better if you can do some laughing and fun shots; just give them clear instructions or make them laugh if you are able.

#2 Just the bride

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

I then separate them and do portraits of just the bride. Usually, I ask the groom to help throw the veil or stand next to me so he can help make the bride laugh, have a natural smile, or look in his direction instead of straight at the camera.

Make sure you get close-ups of the bride as well as wide-angle shots showing the context or location (and her whole dress!) and a variety of angles if possible.

#3 Artistic shots

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

Use the opportunity of having the bride in front of you to take artistic shots like close-ups of the bouquet or veil, shoes, details, or some creative compositions. I try to minimize moving the couple from place to place too much. Instead, I do the moving myself and walk around them, finding various angles from which to shoot and adjusting to the light that is available.

# Just the groom

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

Now it’s the groom’s turn and this is simply a case of replicating what you have just done with the bride. Grooms are usually so much quicker to photograph and do not require a lot of posing. Just get them to stand naturally, lean on something, look at the bride, look at the camera, laugh, look sideways… done.

I find grooms tend to follow instructions quickly without worrying about how they look as they generally just want to get the portraits over and done with. Don’t forget to give them some indicators of time, letting them know you are nearly finished so they don’t worry about longer than they have allowed. This is important and reduces any worries about the timing of the day.

#5 Walking or do some action shots

I end the session with some walking or action photos. Be aware of your background for this as walking photos usually require being slightly further away. Be on the lookout for some nice light in the background and a suitable path they could walk on.

Ask them to walk slowly hand in hand for these photos. Position yourself behind them so you are photographing their backs. Then ask them both to stop in their tracks and look back at you, then again with just the bride looking, and finally just the groom looking.

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

Ask them to turn around in the same spot so they are now looking at you and walking towards you. Always instruct them to walk slowly. Again ask them to stop in their tracks and hold hands but stand further apart. Then say to take a step closer to each other until they are holding each other close or kissing if they wish. Depending on the background, this is when I try to do a silhouette, especially if there is sky or an open expanse in the background.

Sometimes, I ask them to practice their first dance a bit or pull each other in for a quick kiss for some movement and natural laughter.

Conclusion

On a small patch of ground, you will be able to cover several poses, include a variety of angles, do some formal portraits, some casual looks, and lastly some walking and action shots. And that is it! Wedding day portraits done in 15-20 minutes!

How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes

Don’t forget, just get on with it. Don’t stop to check your LCD for long or fuss about too many imperfections. You are under time pressure so have a formula and stick to it while allowing yourself wiggle room for some creative opportunities that may arise – as long as you are within the agreed upon timeframe.

As a side note, I always find that couples who have had an engagement shoot with me beforehand end up having a much easier and breezier portrait session. They know what to expect and what to do that they just do it without the need for a warm-up. They are quick to relax and be at ease in front of the camera and the best bit, they genuinely enjoy it!

The post How to do Wedding Day Portraits of the Bride and Groom in Under 20 Minutes by Lily Sawyer appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Shooting portraits with the $12,800 Leica Noctilux-M 75mm F1.25 lens

13 Feb

Photographer and YouTuber Matt Granger recently got a chance to shoot with two unreleased Leica lenses that many a portrait photographer dreams of owning. On a freezing cold day in Brooklyn, he went out with friend and model Stephanie Pham to test out the APO Summicron-SL 90mm F2 ASPH and—the pièce de résistance—the $ 12,800 Noctilux-M 75mm F1.25 ASPH.

You can’t even buy the Noctilux yet, but Granger was able to get his hands on one for testing purposes ahead of his trip to Ethiopia, and before he hopped on a plane, he just had to try this lens out in a quick 10-minute portrait shoot by the water in Brooklyn. All of the photos were taken with the Leica SL, and since the Noctilux-M is an M-Mount lens (duh), Matt attached it using Leica’s own M to L mount converter.

Matt was kind enough to share a few full-res JPEG samples with us, which you can scroll through in the gallery below.

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In the video, he mentions several times how difficult it can be to grab focus with a lens this fast, but the Leica SL’s focus peaking seemed to help him nail the shot more often than not. In fact, he complains that it’s harder to nail focus stopped down, because the peaking was far less helpful when more of the frame was in focus.

Check out the full video up top to hear Matt’s thoughts and watch him work with this ultra-fast (and ultra expensive…) lens, and then head over to his website to download a few more samples for pixel peeping purposes. Finally, don’t forget to let us (and him) know what you think of the images and these two lenses in the comments down below.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

06 Feb

I love using framing in my images with a layering technique. Layering is simply incorporating not just your subject and background, but adding a foreground and other levels if possible as part of the elements you use to frame your overall image. It’s not always the most straightforward setup to do but it excites me because I love an image that invites the viewer in to explore the image through many levels. Your eyes travel around the image because there is so much to see.

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

This does not mean there are many objects to see but rather there are layers of varying depths of field making the image more compelling. I’ve been shooting for nine years now and I still strive to improve the composition of my images.

As I’ve said, it’s not always the most obvious and quickest thing to do. Sometimes, I choose a location that I know will give me a variety of choices for layering. Or we will do a “walk” during the photoshoot as part of the experience, exploring spots that would give us layering opportunities. I’d like to share with you three simple ways you can use framing in your images with this layering technique.

#1 – Shoot through glass

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

I love shooting through glass. In fact, when I do engagement sessions, I always suggest we either start or end the session with a planning meeting or a chat in a cafe. Look for a window table and shoot from the outside. This is a good way to get some funky compositions, colors, and patterns on the images as well as a reflection and layering.

Shooting through glass allows you to capture different layers of details and you can play around with these details and where you place your focus to achieve a fresh or unusual image. Pictures through glass also provide that extraordinary look and feel, sometimes ethereal, that we often don’t notice in our day-to-day lives unless we purposely stop to see them.

You may need to move around a bit to get the composition right. Or have to wait until a passerby in a white shirt walks past behind you, for example, and provides that needed white blur in the foreground to get your composition right.

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

#2 – Shoot through foliage

When shooting at a park, position yourself behind trees, leaves, bushes, etc., to achieve that “observer” feeling. Make sure you provide clear instructions to your couple so they know what is expected of them before you go hide.

For example, as I am shooting from a distance and obscured by foliage, I instruct my subjects to look a little towards my direction so I can see at least a part of their faces. I ask them not to talk to each other but to communicate via looking into each other’s eyes and smiling a lot. If they feel awkward, that’s all the better because then they can laugh it off and that sort of natural expression is what I’m after.

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

Gently direction them

Tell them not to leave big gaps in between each other. For example, lean their heads towards each other with a very small gap between their faces, or to slightly touch each other’s faces but not squish their cheeks together. Get them to always be in a V position towards you or facing each other directly but never fully turned away with their backs facing you.

The only exception I make for this is when they are on a bench and I shoot from the back for a romantic shot with their heads leaning against each other. Being physically a lot closer than what is normally comfortable can feel unnatural because you are right in each other’s spaces and in reality, you don’t talk to a person with your faces too close to theirs.

But the connection between them is important and sometimes you have to exaggerate things to communicate that connection in photographs well.

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

You don’t have to be at a park or somewhere green to achieve the look of layering by using foliage to frame your images either. I often just pick some leaves, put them in front of the camera, and shoot through them.

I have also shot with a piece of cellophane wrapped around the side of my lens but not obscuring my lens altogether. That makes the look of shooting through something, thereby creating a foreground, middle ground and background. This makes for a more interesting perspective and composition having more than two layers to look through in your images.

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

#3 – Shoot through structure

I love hiding behind buildings and walls and using these large solid structures as part of my composition and adding framing. This not only makes me a little more invisible but I feel the distance makes the couple feel more at ease with the camera not being in their face and me, not in their immediate space.

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When I want to incorporate a geometric element in my image, I often hide behind some large building, columns or any solid structure and use that to frame my couple. This is a really fun way of trying out more abstract compositions, perspectives and lines, patterns and some foreground blurring to accentuate the focus on your couple.

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

However, sometimes there are no buildings or structures you can easily hide behind. My advice is to make one yourself! For this photo below, I asked the maid of honor to stand just to the left so I could use her silhouette to frame my bride in an interesting composition. This is one of my all-time favorite wedding images.

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

In the photo below, I used the long veil to create a foreground element giving the impression that I was hiding behind a big boulder and that there was continuity between the foreground and the bride’s veil.

So be creative and find ways to achieve your intended outcome. As the saying goes, “When there’s a will, there’s a way!”

3 Simple Ways to Use Framing and Layering in Portraits

Your turn

Do you have any other tips for framing your images using layering or any other techniques? Do share them here in the comments below!

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How to Take Unique Crystal Ball Portraits

23 Jan

The search is always on to try something new in photography. That process is often about taking a technique and applying it in a new way. A crystal ball is a great addition to any landscape photographer’s camera bag. In this article, you’ll see why this is also true for portrait photographers.

You’ll learn to take the perfect crystal ball portrait. There are some special characteristics of refraction photography to consider. You will learn the technical side of refraction photography, and how to use this for your portraits.

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

In this photo, the model is seated, with her legs near her body. This made it easier to “eclipse” her behind the ball.

What is refraction photography?

Refractions is an effect that is produced when the light is bent upon passing through an object of denser mass. In the case of a crystal ball, this has the effect of inverting the background image inside the ball. This can be great to use for photography, as the ball becomes an external optic for your camera. You can read more about refraction photography in one of my previous articles.

This effect is mostly used for photographing landscapes, as it creates a super wide-angle scene within the glass ball. However, there are occasions you’d use a wide angle lens for portrait work, and the same is true with the crystal ball.

As with all crystal ball photos, try to ensure your subject is well lit, this will enhance the image coming through the ball. If you try to use strobes for this you need to position yourself carefully, the ball will pick up the light from the flash as a reflection very easily. The best advice I can offer is to position the strobes in a parallel line with the glass ball.

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

In this, photo the model is silhouetted against the dawn sky. The distance from the model to the crystal ball is quite far, so the person appears small in the ball.

How to create your crystal ball portrait

Now you know what refraction photography is and how to do it, the next step is to apply this to a portrait.

There are three main types of crystal ball portraits you can make, each uses the ball in a slightly different way. The three types of photo are shooting close to the ball, photographing the ball in the scene, and using the ball as a prop. Let’s take a look at each one.

1 – Fill the frame with the crystal ball

This composition type has the crystal ball fill the entire frame, or become the dominant part of the frame. In this photo, your model will be the main subject inside the glass ball, which means they’ll need to be quite close to the ball itself. To succeed with this type of photo look at the following points, and apply them to your portraits.

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

You can avoid distortion by placing the model in the center of the ball.

Center the model

  • The model needs to be in the center of the ball so that you avoid ugly distortion of the face on the edges of the ball. To do this consider the following steps.
  • Don’t have your model standing up strait, a sitting position where there body is more compressed will fit better inside the ball.
  • Take the portrait from the chest up, and center the composition on the eyes.

Compress your scene

Use a long focal length to hide the model behind the glass ball, essentially eclipsing the model. The larger the glass ball the easier this will be.

Position the ball

The ball should be level, or a little higher than the model. This will avoid distortions on the edge of the ball, and by having the ball higher than the model, it will focus the viewer’s eye more on the face.

Avoid bad bokeh

The background in a crystal ball photograph can make or break your image. With your model close to the ball, the background is likely to contain some bokeh. Use an appropriate aperture to blur them out, or consider using post-processing to remove them.

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

You can enhance your crystal ball portrait by using good light on the model.

A photo of this type is best achieved with a macro lens, or a long telephoto lens. Both these lenses will allow you to fill the frame with the crystal ball, and then it’s simply about avoiding a bad background.

2 – Use the crystal ball as part of the overall picture

The next option for incorporating the crystal ball into your portrait shoot is to include much more of the background, and make the ball a smaller part of the frame. In this type of photo the focus will be on the ball, but the background bokeh will be equally important in telling the story.

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

Use the bokeh in the image to create your crystal ball portrait.

  • The ball is smaller – The ball will be more of an accent within the overall frame. It’s likely the ball will be placed on the ground, or perhaps on a wall and will take up between 10-25% of the frame.
  • The background will be bolder – The shape of your model is important, so have them strike an interesting pose. As the focus is on the ball, the focus on the model will be soft.
  • Use the correct aperture – Adjust the aperture to a suitable level, so defined shapes can be seen in the background. The background should be neither to blurred nor too sharp. An aperture of around f/4 is a good place to start.
  • Wider focal length – Now that you are including a large amount of the background a wider lens will be needed to achieve this.

3 – Use it as a prop in your crystal ball portrait

You can also use the ball in the more traditional way, as a prop for your model. In this type of crystal ball portrait your model will be directly interacting with the ball. This will mean that the refraction effect inside the ball may or may not be seen, depending on the way you arrange your photo.

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

Have your model hold the ball, and interact with it.

  • Tell the story – As a prop, the ball will be a focal point for your photo. You can use the crystal ball to show tropes like fortunetelling and magic. Use these ideas when composing your photo.
  • Do you refract? –  When using the ball as a prop you don’t have to show it producing refraction; however, it will add more interest if you do so.
  • Using strobes – A glass ball is a very reflective surface. When using strobes you need to decide if you want your strobe light reflecting on the surface of the ball. Moving your strobe to a side light position will eliminate most of the reflection on the ball, so this is a solution.
How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

Using more than one ball gives you more storytelling potential.

Go out and create your magical crystal ball portrait!

Have you ever tried using a crystal ball in portrait work? Let’s see your results if you have. What difficulties did you encounter when you tried this style?

If you bought the ball primarily for landscape photography, how about trying your hand at a portrait?  Give it a go and let us know how it turns out.

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

The ball can help you make some unusual portraits.

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

Experiment with your crystal ball portrait, how about using other techniques like light painting?

How to Take Perfect Crystal Ball Portraits

When your model looks into a crystal ball, there is a story to that photo.

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