Advice for Taking People Photos
Photographing people, especially friends and family, is a lot of fun. Now it’s time to get creative and take your portrait photography skills to the next level. These tips will help you turn snap-shots into photographs you will cherish.
1. Generally, you do not want your subject in the middle of the frame. When you have a subject in the center, you photograph is not as interesting as it could be. By placing your subject on either side of the frame, you not only construct a more exciting photograph, but you now add context by revealing some of the background.
2. In regards to lighting, you want a soft light on your subject’s face. You will usually want the light source to your back, because if the light source is behind your subject, they will end up being very dark (sometimes you may want this effect) and you will lose detail in their face. Outdoor lighting (natural light) is always best, and that is generally before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m.
3. On some cameras you will see a “Portrait” setting, and what that does is set a shallow depth of field creating a blurred background. The advantage to this feature is that your subject is clearly the main focus of the photograph. To manually create this effect, set your aperture below 5.6.
4. Try getting close to your subject. Zoom in; feel free to fill the frame with your subject’s face. You may want to have them look in different directions rather than directly into the camera. The most important thing is that your subject is comfortable and having fun.
5. While many portraits are of the subject’s face, not all of them have to be. Try capturing a portrait without the subject’s face. What do their hands, feet, or possessions say about them? Where do they work, where are they in their element, where do they enjoy spending time?
6. Be creative. Try tilting the camera, or have the person move around. In low lighting (and using a tripod), you can use a long shutter speed to create streaking effects.
There are no set rules, so just have fun. Your subject may have some great ideas for specific shots or locations. It is always nice to send your subject a great photo of them after the photo shoot.
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