Expert Portrait Photographer's Guidelines For Great Photographs

By Author: Jo Alelsto
Total Articles: 405
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More than a picture of a person, a portrait invokes a feeling or thought, communicating something that is unique about the person that is photographed. This is why not everything that show a person's face can pass as a good portrait. You might as well head for a passport photography shop if you only want to have the details of your head and face taken. Otherwise, investing in honing your portrait photography skills is something to be considered. What sets apart a good portrait from the bad ones is that the former is always interesting. But how can you make portrait shots look good enough? Well, perhaps we can learn from the pros.

Many amateurs are real worried about the camera. Some people think that the more expensive the camera, the better pictures it will take. Well, no, it is not the camera that is going to take pictures of people but it's you. The camera is only a tool and whatever camera you're using, if you don't have enough skills then you can always have ruined shots whether you are using a cheap point and shoot model or the expensive DSLR camera in the market.

That means you got to have some ...
... creativity. True photographers are artists. They do not only know the craft but they also understand it by heart. Portrait photography involves a lot of aspects that need to be considered such as the features of the subject, background, lighting conditions, and so on. You have to make all the elements work to come up with a great picture.

Now take a look at the person. Remember it's still your eye that matters and not the camera lens. What you photograph is what you want viewers to see. So examine the person you want to take a photo of and study his or her features. As much as possible, you would want to accentuate the good features he or she has like the captivating smile or expressive eyes. You also would want to find out their best angle as most people have a photogenic side.

What lens are you using? This is a little technical. If you're using compact cameras, you may not need to worry about lenses as they're built with a non-detachable lens that does all your photo taking needs. But if you're a serious amateur who wants to be a professional photographer then investing in different types of lens is a must. Since we are talking about portraits, you should consider using a telephoto lens. What does it do? To make it simple, a telephoto lens allows you to blur the background while bring the subject into focus.

Turn off that flash. There are times when the flash is extremely necessary and there are moments that it must be turned off. The ambient light most of the time casts nice shadows in the background and on the person's face to make a dramatic scene. The trick with no-flash photography is finding the source of light and placing your subject where there is ample light. A light coming in through the windows can produce dramatic photos.

Turn on the flash. There are instances when not using the flash causes not so flattering pictures. Take for instance you are shooting outdoors with the sun up in the sky. The sun casts ugly shadows on a person's face and pictures turn out to be ugly. Show more details of the person's features against the bright background by turning on the fill-in flash. The flash is also useful in other situations where it can provide light to illuminate your subject aptly.

Take as many pictures as you can. Professional photographers don't take ten or twenty photos. They take hundreds of photos of a single subject. Some of the photos shall be discarded later. Explore your equipment and exploit the scene. Use everything to your advantage.
Jo is a content writer for 'CKell Photography', a site owned by Colette Kelly, a Cheshire photographer who has more than 10 years of professional experience being a specialist portrait and wedding photographer in Cheshire, Warrington, Chester and the North West. In case you are searching for reliable portrait photographer then take a look at Ckell Photography(http://www.ckellphotography.co.uk).