Are there any techniques for composition in portrait photography?

You can follow some rules and techniques at the beginning, but if you shoot too much, you will break these rules and get better results.

In a word, both composition and thinking should be open.

Portrait photography composition method

To take basic portrait photography, most people can get started quickly from the composition aspect, because it has a very simple and easy-to-learn composition formula to follow. Like other photography subjects, just the composition alone requires a lot of thought and energy to study and study.

The composition techniques of portrait photography can be roughly divided into two major types: portrait formula composition method and artistic composition method with scenery.

The portrait formula composition method can be divided into four formula composition types: close-up formula composition, half-body formula composition, seven-part formula composition and full-body formula composition. For composition tips, please refer to the following concise list of composition methods for portrait photography.

Generally, those who are new to portrait photography techniques can directly apply the composition techniques of the portrait formula composition method to shoot compositions that are not nerve-wracking, easy to learn, and purely focus on portraits. This type of formula composition method lacks creative value in photography technology, but for beginners, wedding photography operators, or consumers who generally only require portraits, this is the most ideal and most popular composition type in the market. .

The biggest feature of the compositional performance of the artistic composition method of portrait photography is that although the picture is still dominated by portraits, it focuses on the artistic expression of portraits and scenery, and is operated from the perspective of artistic composition. Photo type. There is no certain formula to follow. It all depends on the artistic quality of the photographer. Therefore, it has the creative value of photographic art and is a more difficult type of photography.

When shooting with the artistic composition method of scenery, if the photographer handles the composition, lighting, depth of field and other aspects improperly, it is easy to take ordinary life photos. But if done perfectly, it is possible to take photos of the most artistic value. In the photos taken with this composition method, not only the portrait part must be beautiful, but also the scenery part cannot be vaguely omitted like the portrait formula composition method, and the scenery part must account for a large proportion of the entire picture. Therefore, the shooting of photos with artistic composition is a higher-level expression of photography technology.

A concise list of portrait photography composition methods

Common name Formula composition name Composition tips

1. Portrait formula composition method 1. Close-up formula composition (Formula 1) When composing a photo, focus on the portrait. Usually when composing a picture, the top of the frame is about 20cm from the top of the portrait's head (calculated based on the actual height of the portrait), and the bottom of the frame is about 10cm above and below the chest of the portrait. The photos taken with this composition method are generally beautiful and popular close-up photos of people, which is a common photo type on the market and popular among ordinary people. Generally, photos of celebrities are common.

2. Half-length formula composition (Formula 2) The picture is still dominated by portraits. When composing the picture, the upper edge of the composition frame is about 20cm away from the top of the portrait's head (calculated based on the actual height of the portrait), and the lower edge of the composition frame is in line with the portrait. The waist position is about 10cm and about 10cm apart. The photos taken with this composition method are generally beautiful and formulaic half-length portrait photos, which are also a very common and popular photo type on the market.

3. Seven-part formula composition (Formula 3) The picture is still dominated by portraits. When composing the picture, the upper part of the composition frame is about 20cra from the top of the portrait's head (calculated based on the actual height of the portrait), and the lower part of the composition frame is about 20cra from the top of the portrait's head. The top and bottom of the part should be about 10cm and cut evenly. The photos taken with this composition method are generally beautiful and formulaic portrait portrait photos. This is the most common and popular photo type on the market. 90% of portrait photography customers like this composition.

4． Full body formula composition (Formula 4) The picture is still dominated by portraits, and the composition is straight, with the top of the composition frame about 20cra from the top of the portrait's head, and the bottom of the composition frame about 20cm below the feet of the portrait. Cut the left and right sides evenly (calculated based on the actual height of the portrait). The photos taken with this composition method are generally beautiful full-body portraits with a slight background. It is a common full-body composition for wedding photography on the market, and is especially popular among customers.

2. Artistic composition method with scenery This type of composition method has gone beyond the formal and amorphous composition formula, and needs to rely on the photographer's own composition quality. Portraits are still used as the main theme, but the proportion of portraits in the photos is roughly less than half of the picture, while other pictures such as landscape art occupy more than half of the area of ??the photos. This is expressed by the overall connotation of portraits and scenery. For photos, there is no formula for composition. To take lifestyle photos that are different from those that can be taken with ordinary cameras, it depends on the photographer's proper use of composition aesthetics, lighting techniques, depth of field control and other photography techniques. If the above-mentioned photographic techniques can be outstanding, this type of photo will break away from the common and easy-to-photograph formula composition method and become the most artistically valuable portrait photography work.