Photography Technique - Top Ten Ideas For Improving Portrait Shoots

By Author: Adam Coupe
Total Articles: 18
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Top Ten Ideas For Improving Portrait Shoots

There are two main forms of lighting used for portraits.

High Key
Getting a high-key image is all about light, fresh and subtle tones in your images. The technique involves filling the shadows created by your lights using reflectors. Reflectors can come in many forms, mirrors, silver covered card and white card are usually used. Tri-reflectors are custom made for high-key portraits. The tri-reflector is held by the model below the chin and the three reflective panels can be angled individually to bounce light into the natural shadows above the eyes and under the nose and chin. Of course any kind of reflective surface can be used to bounce light into these shadowy areas.

Low Key
Low-key images thrive on shadows and darker tones over the whole picture. Hanging a black backdrop as a background sucks light from the room and will help render the area behind the model totally black. A black card - known as a Flag - is used to shield stray light from entering the lens or to absorb unwanted light. A black card can be held near to the ...
... models face just out of shot helps absorb excess light from the key light and also to stray light from the room reaching that side of her face. It's the best way to achieve high-contrast portraits and low-key images.

Poses and Communication
Just as important as setting up and choosing the type of lighting you want to use is creating a relationship with the model. Relaxing the model and creating the right atmosphere will create visibly better results. Remember that tense models may be smiling but will still have tense, non smiling eyes. Concentrate on using humour to build a rapport with your model and your photos will improve dramatically.

Here are the Top Ten Ideas for Improving a Portrait Shoot:

1 Be Bold
Be bold enough to try awkward and unusual framing. Getting in close and experimenting with symmetry and not-so-traditional framing will always pay off.

2 Capture Feeling
Softly focused portraits never did anyone any harm. Don't ditch a great image just because the picture is slightly soft. Go for the emotion of the shot rather than the technical aspect.

3 Have a Laugh
Everyone laughs, so make sure you tell a joke or two to get your subject howling. You'll have to be quick on the shutter button, so shoot a burst of three frames to increase your success rate.

4 Wackaday!
Do something wacky. It may feel silly at the time, but you'll get something original or even abstract. Anything goes - just try it!

5 Shoot sexy
Direct eye contact straight down the lens and thinking sexy thoughts should do the trick. Shoot slightly above the eye-line for the best effect.

6 Get thoughtful
Shoot your subject looking away from the lens. It isn't as intimate and up front as direct eye contact. Keeping the space in your frame where the eyes are looking into usually works best.

7 Leave Space
Leaving clean blank areas in the frame gives your subject a virtual breathing space.

8 Pull Faces
Try to capture some funny faces or expressions. These types of shots can really bring out the subject's personality. Be ready to shoot with Continuous Shooting mode to capture each movement.

9 Eyes Closed
Don't panic if you capture a shot with eyes closed. In fact, give it a go! There are some great portraits taken with eyes closed because it gives an extra mood and dimension to a subject.

10 Capture Action
Don't make your studio shoot a strictly sit-down affair. Get your subject moving, twisting and turning to capture a truly original split-second pose.
Adam Coupe is pro commercial photographer specialising in commercial photography, architectural photography and architectural interior photography for a wide range of organisations that need to project their products, people or brand in a vibrant way see for the full architectural photography and commercial photography portfolio : http://www.adamcoupe.com