How to take a perfect portrait photo

Among many shooting subjects, close-up photos of the head are often one of the daunting subjects. Next, I will introduce you some skills on how to take a perfect portrait photo!

Communication with models before shooting.

Before the official shooting begins, we must first confirm the purpose of the photo and what style the customer wants to present. We can choose to communicate with customers by phone or face to face, but either way is more effective than just contacting by email. Because it can make customers relax as much as possible and understand their expectations, so as to prepare for shooting.

The client's occupation may affect the actual shooting, for example, a company lawyer may prefer to use clean white as the shooting background; Yoga teachers may prefer to use bright backgrounds and even want to shoot outdoors.

2. Help the model choose the right clothes.

As the saying goes, clothes make the man, but gold doesn't change Buddha's clothes. Generally speaking, a simple set of neutral clothes can make the avatar get better results. We need to avoid using complicated styles or colors and other elements that will distract people from the model's face. If you want the film to look more formal, then we need to remind customers what to wear or bring a formal suit for their personal use. Besides, careless male friends may forget to bring their coats, so we'd better prepare a spare one to deal with this situation. Finally, if we need customers to bring their own clothes, don't forget to remind them to iron them. Here are some examples of correct clothing collocation.

Remember to separate the subject from the background.

If you are shooting in a photography studio, make sure your model doesn't stand too close to the background when shooting, otherwise the model's shadow may be projected on the wall, which will make the photo look unprofessional. For outdoor shooting, I suggest separating the subject from the background as much as possible. At this time, you can choose large aperture shooting to achieve the effect of blurring the background. Usually, I suggest f/4 aperture for outdoor natural light shooting and f/8 aperture for shooting in studio environment.

4. You can exchange a few pleasantries before the official shooting.

When everything is ready, we can start shooting. Whether we take a close-up of a single head portrait or a close-up of a team, you need to communicate with each subject and try to help them relax when shooting. This process doesn't take much time, some handshakes or "how are you?" Such greetings will be effective. People usually feel nervous when taking pictures, and proper conversation can help them get into the state quickly and feel comfortable during shooting.

Step 5 try to make a face

In addition to some basic communication, there is another way to make your customers more relaxed in front of the camera. If you can't communicate with customers more because of limited time, you can ask customers to make some faces and then take a photo for them. This has two advantages. On the one hand, we can make adjustments such as photometry. On the other hand, grimacing can enliven the atmosphere, and few people will refuse to be funny in the process of taking pictures. Once your client has done this, the next official shoot will be much easier.

6. Pay attention to the lighting and shooting position

When I take special portraits of business people and actors' heads, I tend to set a relatively uniform lighting environment. A classic portrait lighting is still very useful here. We need two light sources, including a main light source and an auxiliary light source in front of the model. Of course, we can also add a reflector below. When shooting, I will make sure that the model is facing the camera at a 45 angle and facing the main light source, but the model's face is still facing the camera. In addition, you may need to guide the model to look directly under the lens.

7. Let the model sit down and shoot.

People may feel more comfortable when they sit down to take pictures, so that their hands can be naturally placed on their legs. In addition, sitting posture shooting also helps the model to adjust the angle and position according to the photographer's instructions for the actual shooting situation.