Portrait Photography

Taking Better Portrait Photographs

Lighting and composition are the two most important aspects of portrait photography in my opinion. There is little point in having a fantastic family composition if the sun is in people's eyes, or 3 out of the 5 subjects are in the shade. Conversely if you have a fantastic lighting set-up, at sunset for example, but you are too far away from your subject then the shot is useless. So my main hints for taking better photos are:

1. Get in close enough. This is the mistake most amateurs make when taking their pictures. Have a look at your subject and see how much of the image you could do without. If you are taking a photo of your child, then make sure the focus is on your child and not the greenhouse to the left of him. You'll be surprised just how much this simple rule will improve your photo taking.

2. Look where the light source is. If you are outside, always be aware where the sun is. Funnily enough we actually have very good weather for photography in that it is overcast most of the time. This means that a photographer does not have to worry about which direction the light is coming from as you get a lovely diffused light through the clouds most of the time. If the sun is out though, you don't want your subject to be squinting into the light. Conversely if the light is behind your subject then you may have problems unless you can manually alter the settings on your camera, so try to avoid this unless you know what you're doing.

3. Be ready. The best shots are usually when your camera is tucked away in your bag, so have it to hand and set to one of the automated modes to allow you to quickly take a snap without fiddling too much.

4. Props are always good. People, especially children, don't like having to pose for photos as this is a very unnatural thing to do. Therefore you need a distraction to help you take the best photos. Get children to climb a tree or jump in the air. Give them a competition like a race and watch their faces when they come running up to the finish line.

Framing

When framing your photographs you need to give them enough space to breath. It is important to have a mount that is wide enough otherwise your photograph will just look like it's not supposed to be there. If you mount your photo with due respect the effect is amazing, it will draw the eye into the image.

Black and White or Colour?

This is a difficult question. This is one of the reasons I switched to digital as I am not sure if a shot is going to be good in B&W or Colour until I have seen it and tried both on the computer. As a genera-rule-of-thumb I think that if a child is looking rather serious then a Black and white shot can make them look really thoughtful and sensitive. Having said that though, some of my favourite shots in black and white have been of happy smiley faces. So I would advice that you experiment and get a feel for both. Have a look at the Gallery section for inspiration.