How photographers take good portraits and the problems they encounter.

1: See how professional photographers can take good portraits.

In portrait photography, the most important thing is to always remember that your subject is a person.

At first, it may be difficult to learn how to balance technology with creativity and models. You must find your own rhythm, not only to make eye contact with the model, but also to communicate with language. This is a skill that needs time and personal experience to develop. It is important to master this skill skillfully and creatively, so that you won't feel at a loss. One of the necessary conditions for taking portraits is that you must like people. Otherwise, you may be better as a product or landscape photographer.

I remember taking pictures of a real estate agent. She needs a portrait as a business card. This should be a relatively simple job, just need light, posture and camera angle, right Wrong. I thought to myself, "I majored in photography in college, which is quite easy." There is a difference between overconfidence and self-confidence: you should believe in yourself, your ability and talent, but don't ignore the person in front of you. I pay too much attention to technology and creativity and completely forget the human factor. She just sat there tapping her fingers and looking around bored. There is a big light in the photo, with a good posture, but a bad expression. She has lost interest, which can be seen from her face, especially from her eyes. Sometimes we are so obsessed with technology that we forget that talent is the most important part of portrait photography. This is not only a place that beginners need to pay attention to, but also some professionals need it.

To be good at portrait photography, it is necessary to communicate with the subject. With the growth of photography technology and knowledge, you will begin to feel more comfortable taking pictures in your favorite way. But you need to learn how to talk to customers so that they will feel comfortable and relaxed. The easiest way to start a conversation is to ask questions. After all, you need to know what this photo is for and how to use it. Ask their families, talk about their friends, or ask them what they like to do, or even tell a joke. Humor is a very useful tool to relax people. It is important to listen to their answers, or their conversations and feelings. You must be sensitive to their needs.

During the whole shooting process, you should make the process very smooth. In other words, you should never let customers notice that you are considering technical/creative issues or being disturbed by unexpected guests. Proper exposure and posture are very important for portrait photos. However, if the expression is poor, the whole photo will be a failure. You may not have successfully broken the rules, or messed up the lighting and posture, but to a certain extent, a good expression can also save the photo.

Remember, portrait photography is more than creativity and skill. You need to be a sociable person and be able to build relationships with them in a short time. I hope that when you have the experience of portrait photography, you can easily spend this period. When people feel comfortable, they are willing to be photographed. Getting a good expression in this way will be very simple and almost effortless.

My advice is not to be so obsessed with skills that you forget that your subject is a person. Otherwise, it may not only be bad for your work, but also bad for your business. Basically, put yourself in their shoes. Would you like a stone-hearted person to take your picture? Cultivate the photographer's personality and form his own photography style. This is the only free and most important photography tool. My mother once said, "God gave each of us two ears and one mouth because he wanted you to listen as much as possible." This is a good suggestion, so when talking with customers, the most important thing is to listen and meet their needs. Not only look, but also listen to the difference.

Chapter two: Common problems of novice, amateur and professional photographers.

No matter how long you stay in photography, you are bound to encounter problems. If we can't go further, it may come from some common mistakes, or we may not realize the problem. Malaysian photographer Ming Thein's photographs involve commodities, wildlife, documentaries, travel, concerts and food. He shared his problems at various stages and proposed solutions. Some of them have been heard or have different opinions, but many of them have benefited me a lot and I hope to share them with you.

First of all, about novice photographers

1. The subject is not clear.

If your photo is not clear at a glance, ask yourself what you are actually shooting. If your answer is "I want to shoot XXX" and XXX is not prominent in the photo, then you should try shooting again and highlight XXX by various methods, such as contrast, color, light, motion, focus and so on.

Sometimes, what you want to shoot is not real, can't be seen in the photo, or even doesn't exist. Very difficult, extremely dependent on the background information and pulse of the photo, really hard to get.

2. Improper use of perspective method

Select the angle of view first, then the angle. Wide angle is used to highlight and exaggerate the foreground subject, and telephoto is used to reduce the subject that highlights the background. Take more pictures with a wide angle and take two steps less with a telephoto, and the photos will look dull.

3. Equipment error

This involves the overall technical errors: exposure, focusing, camera shake, white balance and so on. These problems usually come from over-reliance on cameras, that is, everything depends on automatic programs. A camera can never fully capture the image that a photographer wants. Photographers must control a series of settings themselves to get the correct photos and improve the shooting process, instead of spending time in the later stage, which can also improve the image quality.

Second, about amateur photographers.

1. Worry too much about the equipment

The symptoms of this problem are insisting on using all the tools to take every photo, or believing that a new device can improve your work-but the lack of work may stem from the lack of technology. What's wrong with buying too much equipment? When shooting, I will hesitate and have no time to master the equipment in my hand. So before buying, you should know the current restrictions and make sure that new things can solve your problems, otherwise it will be a waste. Of course, collectors are the exception.

Ignore the edge of the photo

Now 100% VF has become more and more common, and there is no excuse to shoot the subject accidentally cut, the branches burst and interfere. It is also important to consider the edge when shooting.

3. Color problem

Sometimes strange white balance or obviously wrong color can add interest to plane photos, but many times it just destroys the sense of harmony, especially about skin color and food. If you don't know the correct white balance, you can post-process the RAW file or manually adjust it with a gray card. But don't let the camera automatically adjust, especially when shooting JPEG, which will greatly limit the amount of information and adjustability of photos.

4. About black and white contrast

Many people's black and white photos are either too strong or too weak. The former will lead to the loss of details, the color range is not enough, and it is difficult to distinguish the subject from the background; The latter is boring, just like a chef has many delicious ingredients in his hand, but he only uses one.

5. Ignore natural boundaries and reference lines

These simple and useful little assistants are everywhere. For example, the guide line extending from the corridor is a good example, which can attract the attention of the subject. Similarly, they may be out of sight, so we should pay more attention to these details when composing music.

Center the composition

Few beautiful works put the subject in the middle, while dynamic works usually reserve some space before and after the subject, creating a feeling similar to predicting the progress or after the action. Now the camera has multiple focuses, so you can place objects flexibly.

7. This picture is unbalanced

Although it is usually a boring composition to put the main body in the middle, it is not ideal to put the main body in the lower left corner and then all other positions are empty. The so-called visual balance is not easy to explain, but we can feel it directly through vision.

8. Misuse of depth of field

Some people are very addicted to shallow depth of field. One after another, they are just works of barbed wire or red brick walls, with no content. The photo just shows a strong scattered scene. This kind of photo is like saying, "I rely on equipment to make styles because I lack imagination." Shallow depth of field is innocent and can highlight the subject, but a good photo can often supplement the content and information of the photo with a second dimension-background, while a fuzzy wall has no information. Therefore, we should think about how to balance the depth of field and highlight the components of subject and background information.

9. Bad timing and lack of preparation

Maybe you have enough skills, but you always miss wonderful shots. The only solution is to keep practicing. You need to learn to predict the change of the topic, which requires observation and experience; At the same time, you should also have an intuitive understanding of your homework delay, that is, you know how long it actually takes from when you want to shoot to when you press the shutter, and then get used to this rhythm and speed before you can shoot accurately.

Third, about professional photographers.

1. Creative stagnation

When you become a career, it means that you have found some good shooting equations that can even be used to make money, and then you will rely on it and repeat it. What's the danger? There are too many people in this world who like to copy other people's ideas. When they see a good idea, they will rush to do it. If you want to make a breakthrough in this world, you need to keep innovating.

At the same time, when you are a professional photographer, there will be a crisis, that is, most guests only like to let you do their requirements, while those who admire your talent and want you to play freely are very few. Over time, the photographer will become the executor of the camera, not the creator.

2. Outsourcing too much post-work

Some professional photographers will have a group of assistants to do post-work for them, such as adding creative elements or retouching styles. If you do this, you may never meet your requirements accurately. The biggest problem is that in the long run, you will be out of touch with technology. What will you do if those assistants leave?

3. Did not try a new theme

This is a classic debate: should a photographer focus on one subject to become a professional, or should he shoot everything to remain flexible? Ideally, you have a business subject, and then you have enough foundation to shoot other subjects. There are two reasons: first, you have the opportunity to earn more money, because you can give guests extra things; Second, different topics need different technologies, and these technologies have the opportunity to promote your cross-topic career.

4. Too much work

It's a bit paradoxical, because you have a gift, so you have a lot of work, but because you work too much, you don't have the opportunity to shoot what you like and do other creations, so your career has declined. However, it is also possible that when your career goes downhill, you will have more time to try new things. It is very important to balance your work and photography life.