Creative skills and methods of portrait photography

One explanation for why portrait photography is always at the top of all kinds of photography topics is that our different moods, different bodies, different body shapes and different expressions make us the most complicated and fascinating subjects that photography creation can contact.

In the process of life, all of us must be portrait photographers. From this point of view, portrait photography may be the easiest of other types of photography. In fact, to create truly excellent portrait photography works, the skills required are no less than beautiful scenery photography or wildlife works. A truly successful portrait photography requires a comprehensive grasp of all the details and elements inside and outside the picture.

In this special issue, we collected some easy-to-master portrait shooting skills and gave them to Brett? Harkness heard a lot of opinions. Brett is a famous portrait, wedding and documentary photographer in Britain, who has a unique view on color and composition. Reading this issue, you will learn how to take indoor and outdoor portraits, choose the right time and posture, get single and group photos and so on. We will also tell you how to use natural light, ambient light and artificial light, which is the key that any professional portrait photographer must think about. If you are worried that portrait photography will consume too much energy and money, take a look at our simple and economical tips.

When shooting portraits, Brett used a Canon EOS- 1Ds Mark III with Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM and Canon EF? 70-200mm f/2.8L USM and Canon EF 50mm f/ 1.2L? USM and other lenses. In addition, he is equipped with several Lastolite reflectors, two Canon Speedlite flashlights and a belt kit for creative tanks, which can be used to install various devices of different sizes like Batman's belt.

Indoor and outdoor

Photography skills

1 indoor portrait shooting

The shooting location determines the style of use, the timing of shooting and the expected creative effect. Shooting from indoors is a good way to make the subjects, especially children, adapt to the camera. If you choose outdoor portrait photography from the beginning, you are likely to be tortured by children running around.

2 Reduce exposure and purify the background

Turn off the indoor lights, let the family stand about one meter away from home, and set the camera to spot metering mode to shoot people's faces, so that the room is underexposed and a clean black background is obtained.

Three clothing colors suitable for this occasion

When shooting outdoors, it is sometimes difficult to find a colorful background, especially in winter. Therefore, on cloudy days, it is advisable to let the subject wear colorful patterns to increase the warmth and visual interest of the picture. On the contrary, in the gorgeous world of golden sunshine, shaded trees and blooming flowers in summer, in order to avoid being submerged in colorful environment, people can be asked to try on clothes with simple design and bright colors. When you take photos outside, it is always a good choice to bring more change clothes.

4 looking for a clean background

Simple background is one of the keys to the success of portrait photography, which is natural. Some home wallpaper or interior decoration is quite good for portrait shooting, but if the decoration is not so charming, you can try to use the back of the sofa as the background.

This technology has been used to photograph children many times. Put the sofa in front of the door and let the children sit on it. The back of the sofa becomes the most charming background.

Light shines into the room from the outside and on the sofa, which not only adds warmth to the picture, but also highlights the color of the sofa. Using this technique, even the black leather sofa can show different brilliance.

Enjoy every day of your life.

It is far from enough to take a good photo just by taking the subject to the garden or a nearby park. Excellent portrait photography often comes from the perfect expression inadvertently revealed, and these moments often appear when they have a good day until they forget the existence of the camera.

In that case, why not make a shooting plan for the whole day? Take filming as a shared experience, walk hand in hand in the bushes, have lunch with your family and bathe in the sun on the beach. When people gradually relax their vigilance, you can take more natural photos. Everyone is happy for the pleasant experience of the day, and they will not think that this trip is to take photos for the sake of taking photos.

6-frame composition shooting

It is not uncommon to use the leaves around the picture as a frame. Why not lower the angle a little and surround the lower part of the picture with flowers or other vegetation on the ground? A lower perspective can form a stronger visual impact, and this unique low-angle photo can bring us a completely different perspective and feeling. Make the room look more spacious

When shooting indoors, if the room is narrow, let them stand in the corner and shoot at a low angle. This perspective can better emphasize the intersection between the wall and the floor, attract the line of sight to extend from the center of the picture to the lower right corner, and enhance the sense of space of the picture. Using a wide-angle lens can make this effect of the picture more obvious.

8 choose the best aperture

Outdoor shooting is often difficult because the colors are too messy. If you shoot with a similar aperture such as f/8, the protagonist is likely to be mixed with the background. If you shoot with a large aperture such as f/2.8, you can reduce the depth of field and make the characters stand out.

9 control exposure

Moving from indoor to outdoor means giving up control of light. If the sun is strong and the light contrast is strong, a more balanced exposure can be obtained by using a compact composition.

The telephoto lens is the best choice for this kind of outdoor portrait shooting, such as Brett's trustworthy 70-200mm lens. Because the wider the lens, the more ambient light enters; So the more background you want to include in the picture, the harder it is to get a symmetrical exposure.

10 uses reflected light to fill the light.

If you want to use a flash when shooting indoors, you can get softer light by reflecting from the ceiling or wall, otherwise the light ratio of the shooting result is very large. This technique is particularly effective for posing. When you increase the aperture, set the shutter to 1/60s, and the sensitivity is between 100 and 200, you can get good results.