Portraiture is very different from all other types of photography. To help you master this format, we have put together 6 rules for portrait photography for beginners that will prevent you from making the most common mistakes.

1. Technique

Any camera is suitable for taking portraits. The advantage of a DSLR camera is its prompt response to commands, change of optics, which allows you to vary photographic modes, the ability to shoot in manual mode, which means that you have many opportunities to solve your artistic problems and the ability to shoot in difficult conditions (for example, in dark premises).

Good portraits can be taken compact cameras. But it’s better if your compact has a zoom (the longer, the better - the background will blur more, the proportions of the face will be better).

For SLR cameras It is recommended to use lenses with a focal length of 50-80 mm (in some cases up to 135 mm). With a focal length of less than 50 cm, you will get distorted proportions of the model. When shooting a portrait, preference should be given to portrait lenses with soft-focus optics.

Softly drawing optics allows you to hide skin unevenness and focuses attention on the main elements of the portrait (eyes, mouth, forehead), gives a sense of volume due to smooth declines in sharpness from the main to the less important.
To even out the brightness in the frame and highlight shadows, it is sometimes necessary to use a flash or reflector.

2. Settings

Portraits are typically shot with a shallow depth of field. A small depth of field means an open aperture, i.e. small aperture values ​​(preferably from about f 2.8). If you are photographing with a compact, shoot at the maximum zoom position.

What will this give? The subject will be sharp and background will blur. We must not forget about the distance at which you are shooting and that the depth of field depends on this distance. Of course, it all depends on your artistic goals, but in a classic portrait the eyes and preferably the rest of the face of the person being portrayed should be sharp. If you're shooting two or a group of people and you want the whole group to be in sharp focus, you'll need to stop down your aperture (f 8 - f 11 or larger).

The shutter speed when shooting portraits should not be too long. People cannot remain silent and breathe for a long time. If the shutter speed is too long, the photos will not be sharp. In addition, long exposures cause tension in the person being filmed. At short shutter speeds you capture the moment and everything that was intended appears in sharpness (eyes,...). This is especially true for children who cannot sit quietly in one place. The faster the shutter speed, the more likely you are to get a sharp photo. We have already written that it is better to shoot children at shutter speeds no longer than 1/250 s; for adults, you can use longer shutter speeds. It is important that you have enough light to shoot. It is optimal to shoot on the street or at home near a window.

Try not to raise the ISO. If possible, shoot at ISO 100.

The focus in a classic portrait should be on the eyes (not the nose, forehead or anywhere else). It is best to switch the camera to manual focus point selection mode and select the point that falls on the model’s eyes.

3. Light

In order to get not a flat, but a voluminous face in a photograph, it is best to use light falling slightly in front and from the side (front diagonal lighting). In principle, good results can be obtained with side lighting, but with side lighting it is best to use a reflector (which can be, for example, a white wall of a house) or an external flash. It's best to shoot outdoors in the morning or early evening. If you shoot at midday, when the sun is at its zenith, the overhead light will produce deep shadows and very sharp contrast.

With the help of backlighting, you can get a silhouette if you shoot, for example, in the evening. If you want to highlight your face, you will also need a reflector or external flash. Frontal lighting will make your face look flat and should be avoided.

At home, it is best to shoot with light from the window (if possible, not from the sunny side). Sheer curtains will help you diffuse and soften the light.

4. Shooting point

Typically, any photograph begins with choosing a shooting point. That is, the model will be photographed from close or from afar, from above or below, to the right or to the left. The shooting point mainly determines the composition of the photo.
The scale of the image will depend on the distance. As we already wrote, there is no need to reinvent the wheel in photography. The scale of the portrait has long been determined fine arts. By scale, portraits are divided into full-length, side-by-side, bust (chest) and fragmentary.

Bust portraits are the most popular. They allow you to convey the external appearance and “look” into the eyes of the person being portrayed, conveying the peculiarity of his face (external resemblance). With the help of a bust portrait, you can try to convey the inner world of a person.

A bust portrait should be shot with a long focal length (portrait) lens from a distant point. Otherwise, there is a risk of distortion of the face shape and loss of external resemblance.

By removing the shooting point you can get a half-length portrait. Most often, half-length portraits are taken while sitting. Hands also participate in the half-length portrait. You need to watch your hands very carefully. Using the position of your hands you can determine the mood of the portrait. The position of the hands should be absolutely natural. To prevent your hands from becoming tense, you can give the person being portrayed something to hold in their hands.

Generational portrait still in to a greater extent sets the task of showing the proportions of the figure. Try to shoot generational portraits not statically, but with an energetic turn and an active gesture.

We move away from the shooting point and move further and further away from the model’s face. In a full-length portrait you can show the proportions of the figure. It’s better to shoot from height without standing - it’s very difficult.

When shooting bust portraits, it is best to shoot from the model's eye level. Half-length portraits are taken from chin level. When shooting a full-length portrait, shoot from waist level (crouching).

5. Composition

In portrait photography, all the classic rules of composition apply, which we have written about more than once. Special attention worth turning to the background. It should not distract from the subject being portrayed. Avoid taking portraits against contrasting, bright or colored backgrounds. Calm, monochromatic backgrounds that do not distract attention are best suited.

Do you remember the rule of composition, according to which you should not place the main subject in the middle of the frame? This rule also applies here, but in a portrait it is very important that the frame is balanced. That is, there must be something in the frame that balances it. It could just be an abstract background.

When filling the frame, it is very important to consider the direction the model is looking. That is, if a person is looking to the left, then there should be enough space to look on the left. The gaze should not rest on the edge of the photo. The mood of the photo depends on the direction you look. The picture can be made more interesting if the model is not looking at the camera, but somewhere else.

6. Working with the model

Very often we see tense faces and tensely smiling people in photographs. Most people see the camera and start posing. It rarely gives good result, since those being portrayed tend to tense up when posing. Good photographer a portrait painter must be able to reveal the inner world of a person, and this is only possible when the model is relaxed and naturally at ease. We already wrote once that every photographer has his own favorite genre of photography. A portrait photographer must love communicating with people and be able to win someone over.
It’s best to start shooting with a casual conversation. When a person relaxes, you can start shooting.

At the beginning of shooting, you can say that you are not shooting yet, but simply choosing a shooting point and setting up your equipment, trying a new lens, i.e. take test pictures. This is often when you will be able to capture the best footage. Interesting shots are also obtained during breaks, when the model is tired, stops “posing” and relaxes. Here again you can say that while the model is resting, you are again testing the technique and choosing an angle for further shooting.
All this, of course, does not concern professional models who know how to work in front of the camera.

Portrait is now one of the most common genres. People are photographed by both amateurs and professionals. The only difference is how they do it. In this lesson we will understand precisely this, often elusive, difference between artistic portrait and household.

Portrait photography: plot, idea, mood

We have already discussed more than once that photography should carry a semantic or emotional charge, and tell some kind of story. Portrait photography in this regard is no exception: it is important for us not just to convey a person’s appearance, but also to tell about him, his character. The minimum is to show the mood at a specific moment in time.

What emotions does this photo evoke? Definitely positive! Bright colors work for this (remember the second lesson), soft light with beautiful shadows, as well as the pose of the model - she seems to be running along a path. As a result, the image took shape.

Taking a portrait -

The main thing is not to forget that photography is a complex in which everything is interconnected: background, color, light, a person’s facial expressions, his pose.

And this photo is the exact opposite of the previous one: the model’s tense pose, intense look at the camera, large number dark tones, as well as cold-colored smoke in the background - all this creates a dramatic, depressive mood.

Portrait photography -

You are already familiar with some components, and we will deal with the rest in this lesson.

Taking a portrait: composition features

In the second lesson, we discussed the rule of thirds and found out that in a portrait it is not always applied in a rigid form; it is often necessary to deviate from it. For example, it is believed that if a person turns his body in one direction, then he needs to leave more space there than behind his back - this will emphasize the dynamics of the turn.

However, this is not the only approach. If you do the opposite, that is, leave less space in front of the person than behind your back, then the frame will look more tense and dramatic. That is, this way you can emphasize the mood of the hero of the photo.

You probably remember about the types of plans in photography - close-up, medium, general. There are their analogues in the portrait:

How to photograph people: shoulder-length portrait.

Only the upper part of the body, approximately up to the chest, is included in the frame; cropping of the head is allowed to place the eyes on the upper third line. To convey a neutral height of a person, that is, one in which he does not appear small or tall, the camera should be placed at eye level.

How to photograph people: half-length portrait.

It's called that, but in reality the framing goes along the hips. Space is already left above the head so that the border does not put pressure on the head. Here the camera can be placed at shoulder level - this way the height will be conveyed without distortion.

How to take a beautiful portrait: full-length portrait.

As the size increases, more and more space should remain around the person so that the picture does not look cramped. Landmark - the eyes should be approximately on the top line of the thirds, maybe a little higher. The camera is located at chest level.

This division is conditional; there may well be intermediate sizes. One of the practical values ​​of this knowledge is the versatility of shooting. If you are making a series with one person, then it is better to take photographs of different sizes in order to fully reveal both the person and the conditions in which he is located.

I would also like to add something about the height of the camera. The way this point is described above is not a rigid algorithm. You can film a person from below or from above. You just need to understand that, for example, the lowest point of shooting will help convey confidence and arrogance. And the highest point of shooting will make the image softer, perhaps even hesitant.

In addition, there are quite serious restrictions on framing the human body. For example, you should not cut at the joints - elbows, knees, as this makes the hands not look very beautiful. You need either higher or lower. Also, pictures in which the frame of the frame runs along the neck rarely look good; it is better to include the shoulders.

Taking a Portrait: Light in a Portrait

It is best to shoot portraits, as well as landscapes, with fixed lighting - the dynamic range of the scene is smaller, and due to the low position of the sun, it is easier to control the cut-off pattern by rotating the subject of the photo relative to the light source. It is important for us to achieve an effect where the cut-off pattern lies smoothly and does not have torn areas or strongly protruding shadows. This is most noticeable on the face, so it’s worth focusing on. For example, you can turn a person so that the face is illuminated and the shadows start at the cheekbone. The light will fall at approximately an angle of 45-50 degrees.

It is clear that 45 degrees is not the only possible angle of incidence of light. You can choose any other, the main thing is that the cut-off pattern lies evenly and beautifully.

Having half the face in shadow makes the portrait more dramatic.

When highlighting one cheekbone, it is important to ensure that it does not distract attention from the slightly shaded face.

When shooting against the sun, you also need to make sure that the faces do not turn out too dark.

Of course, it’s not always possible to shoot during regular hours. If you try to illuminate a person with the midday sun, which is high, then not very beautiful shadows will form around the eyes - the so-called “panda drawing”. Or the shadow from the nose will go into the nose and climb onto the lip - this is also best avoided. To avoid these problems, you can turn the person away from the sun so that his face is in the shadow, that is, shoot in the background.

True, the background, if it is illuminated by the sun, will turn out to be overexposed - after all, the exposure should be set to the face, and the difference in brightness is too large. But this, in principle, is not considered a marriage.

In addition, you can take the hero into the shade - under trees or behind some building.

You just need to take into account that direct light has greater expressiveness than reflected light, since when shooting in the shadows there are almost no shadows themselves.

Don’t forget that you can shoot not only on the street, but also indoors - an apartment, a cafe, even an entrance. If the light is from a window, you get a very beautiful cut-off pattern.

In addition, I would like to remind you that light can affect the mood of a photograph. If you want the frame to be dramatic, then you need contrasting shadows and a predominance of dark tones.

And for a positive portrait, in addition to bright colors, you need soft light.

The use of shadows in the composition looks very cool. For example, you can find a place where the model will be illuminated, and the background will be in the shadow - this technique is called a light accent.

In addition, you can use lines of shadows, their projection onto the characters’ surroundings or onto themselves. All this makes your photos unusual and more attractive.

Portrait Photography: Posing

More often than not, you'll likely be shooting inexperienced models, people who haven't learned how to pose. It's not bad, it just makes you approach posing a little differently. After all, it is one of the most important factors in conveying the plot and mood in a photograph.

There are several requirements for a person’s posture:

• By the time you pick up the camera and start shooting, you already understand what you want to shoot and what to show the viewer. And the pose should work for this! For example, the hero is cold, he is thoughtful or joyful. In ordinary life, in these cases, people take certain poses, and it is worth using them - so the viewer will be able to count and understand in what emotional state the person being portrayed is.

In this photo, the pose clearly shows thoughtfulness.

Closed poses (for example, with crossed arms) are good for dramatic scenes, open ones for positive ones. It will be nice if you study sign language in order to independently lay the necessary emotional background, suggesting this or that pose to the person being portrayed.

If some action is performed, then you need to catch the peak moment - it will look clearer this way.

• Someone crosses their arms on their chest, someone keeps them in their pockets - the pose must be familiar to the person, suitable for him. Otherwise, tension and unnaturalness in posing cannot be avoided.

• "Magazine" poses are good for magazines and experienced models. It takes them a long time to learn to control their body in order to look beautiful. If you are photographing a person who is inexperienced in posing, then it is unlikely that you will be able to repeat what you saw in the glossy film. Therefore, it is better to choose simple, life-like poses.

Typical posing mistakes:

1. Do not hide your hands in your hair or behind your back - this will make them appear cut off. The same with pockets: at least your thumbs should be visible.
2. Neck - expressive part body in a female portrait, try not to cover her with strongly raised shoulders.
3. If the hero rests his face on his hand, then his facial features should not be distorted.
4. It's better not to smile with half your mouth - it doesn't look very good. If you have any problems with your teeth, you can smile without showing them.
5. When doing a full-length portrait, make sure that the leg closest to the camera does not overlap the far one, otherwise the person will turn out to be one-legged.
6. It happens that inexperienced models smile, their body seems to be relaxed, but their hands betray internal tension, they are clenched - such things need to be noticed and corrected.
7. Looking into the lens is not always appropriate, try different options. You just need to make sure that the person being portrayed does not turn his eyes too far away from the camera, otherwise only the whites will be visible.

Many people are unsure of themselves and worry that they don’t look good in photographs. In this case, the photographer acts not only as a photography specialist, but also as a psychologist who must prepare the person and promote him. How to do it:

1. Communicate with the person being portrayed: joke, talk about abstract topics, tell them what you want to do - this is liberating.
2. Be confident, even if you don't know how to take the best shot. Otherwise, the hero will think that the problem is in him and will be closed psychologically.
3. Offer to twirl in front of the mirror before shooting so that the person knows his best angles.
4. If you don’t know what position you need, ask to take a familiar one and go from there.
5. Every person has a temperament, a certain character - use it. If the person being portrayed in life is calm and unsmiling, then you should not try to hype him up into unbridled fun, at least not right away. It’s the same with positive people - it will be difficult to take a tough, dramatic shot with them.

Shooting a portrait: harmony of shooting location and clothing

It seems like an insignificant detail, but the combination of wardrobe and location can have a positive or negative effect on the subject of the photograph and the image being created. For example, will a girl in an evening dress look understandable, say, in the hayloft? I don't think so. But if you place it in classical architecture or the same interior, then the person being portrayed will look harmonious.

In this case, the man’s formal clothing is harmonious with the same strict, minimalistic setting.

If the model is wearing a light summer sundress, then the shooting location should be chosen to match it. It could be a green or blooming park, perhaps some kind of field with flowers.

That is, it is very important to ensure that the style of the shooting location and clothing are the same, then the hero will fit harmoniously into the shooting location. Moreover, you can look deeper and look for harmony not in style, but in the texture of clothing and its combination or contrast with the surrounding space.

In this case, the pattern on the clothes matches the color of the foliage and this gives the photo a harmonious look.

Eclecticism, that is, a mixture of styles, is possible, but there is a big risk of getting an incomprehensible shot. Or it will simply look “cheap” and intrusive. You need to be very careful here.

Portrait photography: creating an image

You have already studied enough tools that influence the expressiveness of photography and can help you in shaping the plot and mood: composition (not only the location of the object in the frame, but also its surroundings), close-up, color, light, posing (if we are talking about a portrait) . It is now important to think through all the photographs on all these points, not to miss the slightest detail. This seems difficult, at first you will forget something, but you need to strive for this. For example, let's look at this picture:

The photo has a very bright emotional coloring; the photographer managed to capture a very good moment. At the same time, despite the child’s facial expressions, the frame does not seem depressing, rather cute. Why is this so? This is where soft light comes into play, as well as light colors that minimize the negativity of emotions. Because of this, a feeling of fleeting mood is created; it seems that literally in a minute the child will be smiling.

This photo is a great example of how you can take a completely non-domestic shot at home. Why did this happen: firstly, there is amazing light - the main character is highlighted by it, while the background is already going into shadow, that is, an accent is created. In addition, the action that the woman performs is very readable, there is no question about what exactly she is doing. And the environment and background are also very successful: it is clear that the action takes place in the apartment, but there is no overload or unnecessary objects. The rhythm of the books located behind the heroine played a big role in this. The result is a collective image of an elderly woman, in whom every viewer can recognize someone from her life.

Every photographer strives to improve, so we try different shooting styles, conditions, genres, etc. Shooting in a photo studio is one of the points that you should definitely try, no matter whether you have a craving for studio photography or not. We once wrote an article about how to build your own, but these are all childish pranks compared to a real photo studio. If you have never shot in a studio before, but want to try, this article is just for you.

First of all, I would like to note that I am not a fan of studio photography and prefer shooting in natural light with additional light sources, so in all my photographic experience, I have only taken photographs in the studio a dozen times. However, shooting in a photography studio teaches you to see and feel light like no other shooting.

The first thing you should know about a photo studio is that you can take photographs there yourself, without any significant restrictions. The studio business is not very profitable, so the owners often provide hourly studio rental services; in Kyiv, the cost of renting a photo studio ranges from 100 to 300 UAH per hour. At the same time, the price does not necessarily indicate the quality or quantity of equipment; very often photographers simply feel sorry for their studio and they raise the price to reduce wear and tear. And you can “kill” a studio even in a year, I was convinced of this at own experience one Moscow musical photo studio.

The next step, when you finally made up your mind and got into a photo studio, will be your acquaintance with the studio equipment. Often it is standard, you will always find reflectors in the studio, several types of softboxes (usually rectangular or square), backgrounds, studio flashes and various attachments for them, sometimes you come across a “beauty dish” and other equipment. But all this should not confuse you, if you know how to position the light, and most importantly feel it, then you will be happy to experiment with any studio photo junk.

The studio will most likely give you an infrared synchronizer, which makes it possible to control studio flashes remotely. It works the same as any other, with only one difference - it doesn’t care what camera you have. And yet, the studio is exactly the place where you need to take photographs in manual mode (), because... your light is constant, and the power of the flashes is approximately the same, then the ratio parameters will change extremely rarely. At the same time, it is better to close the aperture to f/7.1-9 - this will give you a decent margin, therefore, you do not need to be afraid that you will miss the focus, but do not forget about when the aperture is tightly clamped. Set the shutter speed to 1/160 sec if your lighting scheme allows it, if not, increase it a little, but try to keep it no more than 1/125 sec so as not to accidentally blur the photo. You won’t be able to set a shutter speed of less than 1/250 sec due to the lack of .

To feel the light, I recommend starting to build your lighting scheme with one light source, this option will not be much different from your home studio, or even just . To start, place your light in front, diagonally to the model itself, and try to have it fall on the model from top to bottom at an angle of 45 degrees. I recommend using a softbox as the main light at first; it diffuses very well, so the shadows on your model’s face will be smoothed out and less noticeable if posed incorrectly. Later you will move on to a reflector attachment or a “beauty dish”, with them everything turns out more interesting.

With one light source, you can also use a reflector, placing it on the opposite side. This will smooth out the shadows a bit without any additional light sources. Choose what you like best.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Try to place your light source and model on the same plane.

Side lighting is very insidious, i.e.

k. reveals all the flaws on your model’s face, all the curves or unevenness of the dress (which was wrinkled on the way to the studio), so such photographs definitely require additional processing and attention.

Surely there will be many different softboxes in your studio, try using a narrow rectangular softbox - it is designed for “full-length” photographs. Its shape allows you to evenly illuminate the entire model, not just the face.

Usually, if you're photographing with a softbox, your background will be quite light, but if you suddenly need to make it even lighter, you just need to point additional source light towards the background. If you see overexposure or, conversely, lack of lighting, then you need to adjust the flash power. This can be done directly on it, or remotely, if such a possibility of light correction in the studio exists. In my studio it was necessary to set the flash power, this is convenient, especially for beginners.

By adding another softbox from the opposite direction (at 45 degrees) you will get a fully illuminated model, in this case there will be practically no shadows on the face. The light falls smoothly and evenly, but the photo turns out flat and “not alive.” Personally, I don’t really like this kind of lighting, because... there is no contrast.

I much prefer to have backlighting in the lighting design. Backlight is usually placed behind the model and it doesn’t look very good on its own; in fact, with backlight alone you won’t photograph anything worthwhile, but if you combine it with another light source, you will get a pleasant light color along the contour of the model.

After all the machinations described above, you should roughly understand how comfortable it is for you to photograph, and where it is better to place the light. Therefore, you can switch to a reflector attachment or “beauty dish”. In my studio there was a “beauty plate”, it is better because... It does not give such concentrated light, but still, you will have to carefully monitor the shadow on the model’s face.

The next step was to replace the background; for some reason I was drawn to black, but then I didn’t regret choosing it. With one beauty dish and a black background, I got something like this.

Yes, I almost forgot. Light eats away makeup very much, so studio makeup should be bright and catchy as never before.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Kyiv photo studio Black&White Photo Studio for kindly providing the studio. The real professionals who work there will not only help you with advice and action, but will also treat you to tea and sweets;)

Also, many thanks to our

In a portrait, it is important to emphasize the personality and character of the person depicted in this portrait. One way to achieve this is to choose a suitable location for taking a portrait. Let's talk about this today.

Choosing the right location for shooting is perhaps one of the most important aspects of all photographic art. And especially in a portrait. Everything else depends on the place you choose to create the portrait: what kind of lighting you will choose to illuminate the model more favorably, with what exposure and from what angle you will take the picture, what clothes the person being portrayed should wear, his pose and the proportions of the figure in relation to surrounding objects in the frame, and much more.

The most common way to create a portrait is to shoot in a studio against a static and carefully organized background. But this is quite an expensive pleasure, and... Moreover, it has already become quite boring, since such portraits have already been taken millions and even billions of times.

Agree, much more interesting thing both the photographer and the model will benefit from creating a portrait against a living, natural background. Using his imagination, his resourcefulness, a photographer creating a portrait can always choose some interesting, sometimes even unique, place for shooting, thereby creating a certain atmosphere in the portrait and breathing life into the picture.

The location should mean something

At first glance, the simplest and most affordable option for choosing a place to take a portrait would be a place convenient for you, as a photographer. For example, you have the opportunity to shoot on the banks of the Volga or Lake Baikal, near which you live. This thought is always, as they say, offhand, the first one that comes to mind. But, unfortunately, this is not always the best option, even if it does sometimes look tempting.

Before you start taking a portrait, get to know the subject better and talk to him for a while. Find out what this person is interested in, where he works, what kind of music he likes. Ask him about his hobbies, about his favorite books... This conversation will give you many ideas for creating a portrait of the person who came to you. For example, if your client loves painting, why not arrange a photo session in an art museum against the backdrop of paintings by great masters. And if you are photographing, for example, a fishing enthusiast, why not go to the river to take pictures...

To take a portrait, you always need to choose a subject that would have some meaning for your subject. Taking this into account, you will be able to create a wonderful portrait that will please not only the person depicted in it, his friends and relatives, but also your colleagues and even strict critics of your work. The portrait will turn out realistic and natural. In addition, in a familiar environment, a person always feels much more relaxed than in an unfamiliar place, especially in a photo studio, where he may have come for the first time. And all this affects the mood and state of the person being portrayed. This is very important for creating a good portrait.

It is very important for a photographer engaged in portrait photography to understand that each person is, first of all, an individual. Every person is individual. There are no two identical people and there never can be. Everyone living on Earth has their own character, their own habits, their own tastes. This is precisely why, to create a portrait, the photographer must find places to shoot that would best emphasize the individuality of the subject. This is the most important thing in choosing a place to take a portrait.

Use natural light when working

Many photography professionals cannot imagine shooting without artificial light sources, even on location. This tells us that light in photography can safely be called one of the most important factors.

If you are planning to take a portrait, we recommend choosing the brightest places for this. But do not forget that the light in the portrait should be soft and diffused. And one more is enough important point: You should always take into account that it is very undesirable to take a portrait on the street at noon. The midday sun, standing high above the horizon, especially in a city where there is little greenery and shaded areas, creates excessively contrasting lighting. Such lighting, with its rough light-shadow pattern, can easily ruin the face of even the most beautiful girl. That’s why, if you had to take a portrait on location at noon, it’s better to do it somewhere in a shaded place, for example, under lush trees, in the shadow of a house, in a small cramped and shady courtyard... In such places, the lighting is this moment will be much softer and more pleasant than in open areas.

Well, if time allows you to work with a model on location in the morning or evening, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity. During these periods of the day, the lighting becomes very soft and beautiful, the light-shadow pattern on the face of the person being portrayed will be very attractive. It’s not for nothing that the hours of dawn and sunset are called “golden hours” in photography.

If you are shooting a portrait indoors, in a room, for example, then the model should be positioned in such a way that it is as close as possible to the source of natural light, that is, to the window. In this case, of course, you can use illumination of the portrait subject with other, artificial light sources. But here it all depends on your budget, that is, simply put, on the availability of lighting equipment.

Don't forget about shelter

When you photograph outdoors, on location, there is always the possibility that the weather may turn bad. For example, it may suddenly rain... That's why when shooting on the street, the photographer always has to hope for His Majesty's chance - what if everything will be fine and nothing will interfere with the photo shoot outdoors. But, nevertheless, it will always be better to play it safe. Especially if you travel somewhere far outside the city to create a portrait, where there are no cafes or shops that could shelter you for some time from rain or other vagaries of nature.

In case of bad weather, provide yourself with escape options. In the city, these can be, as we just said, cafes and shops, as well as bridges, or rather, the space under them, underground passages, metro... Outside the city - a car... And if there is a village nearby, you can visit someone ask. Or even wander... into the barn (at the same time you can photograph the milkmaids)!

But, nevertheless, when shooting a portrait outdoors, bad weather in some cases can even turn from an enemy into a good assistant for the photographer. More precisely, along with the person being portrayed, rain, for example, can become one of the characters in the portrait! Here a lot depends on the imagination and imagination of the photographer. Well, and, of course, his skill. Search the internet and see what good portraits you can create in the pouring rain! Try looking for some kind of shelter, such as a bus stop, and use the rainfall as a backdrop for your portrait! Shoot as long as the lighting allows. Well, if you don’t get wet, of course...

Well, if the weather has completely turned bad and you have no way to continue filming outdoors, you will have to finally move indoors to continue working.

Choose a quiet place for shooting

City streets and squares, and other noisy places with large crowds of people, are perhaps the worst places for taking portraits. People walking idly or rushing about their business will interfere with your work, prevent the subject from concentrating, and irritate him and you with their questions. And in general, they can be very undesirable, even if they unintentionally interfere with the boundaries of your frame. In this case, all participants in the process will feel uncomfortable, as they say, “out of place.” That's why to create a portrait on fresh air the best option will look for a quieter and more peaceful place than a noisy city street. In a quiet place, you and the model will be able to work calmly and focused, no one or nothing will distract you from the fascinating process of creating a portrait.

If you decide to shoot a portrait in the city, then it will be quite difficult for you to find such a place. But, if you think carefully and wander the streets, it’s usually quite possible to find a secluded corner for shooting. This could be a distant alley of a city park, a quiet courtyard of a house on the outskirts, or even in the city center, in some side street... Even in the center of a huge and noisy Moscow, such courtyards can be found.

Well, if that didn’t work, then try shooting on city streets on an early summer morning. In the middle of summer, the streets are quite light already in the very early hours, and there are almost no people around. Everyone is still sleeping or just getting ready for work. At this time, the city looks quiet and calm, and on top of all this, extremely beautiful. One of the photographers even managed to create a magnificent series of photographs in which naked girls posed for him on recognizable and famous city streets. These pictures were taken at 5-6 am in mid-June.

Well, and, as we wrote just above, morning lighting is very good for taking portraits.

It’s also good to take a portrait in the open air in the forest, on some lawn dotted with wildflowers, on the beach when the season is not conducive to swimming... All these places will create a wonderful backdrop for a portrait. Well, and what is very important, alone with nature, you and your model will feel free and independent. You will merge with nature, you will feel like a part of that lawn, that forest or the sea, of everything that is near you, that surrounds you. Such unity will give you relaxedness and freedom in creative flight. And the result of this creative work must be simply wonderful!

The main thing in a portrait is the person. Don't let the background overshadow it

Of course, an interesting and beautiful place for shooting is quite important. More precisely, it is very important. But sometimes some photographers, especially beginners, for some reason forget that in a portrait the most important thing is the person himself, the one we are photographing, and not what surrounds this person. A bright background and the presence of many distracting details in the frame is a rather crude and, alas, common mistake of photographers working in this genre of photography. In order to avoid such mistakes, we recommend that you carefully consider the photographs of other authors. And it would be a good idea to review your work from time to time. And if, when looking at this or that photograph in this way, your gaze first of all clings not to the face of the person depicted in it, but to something else, then know that either you (if this is your photograph) or another photographer are going in their own way. creativity is a little in the wrong direction, they are developing in the wrong direction. The background should be just that, a background, and not the main object on the frame plane. The background should not overshadow the main subject. The mission of the background is to emphasize the beauty, importance, and significance of the main thing in the photo, in this case, in the portrait.

The easiest way to get away from a distracting background is to focus correctly. Try to work with sharpness, with the depth of field of the depicted space. Try to blur the background, but so that the main object, that is, the face or even just the eyes of the subject, is in perfect sharpness. In this case, the background will not distract the viewer from the main thing in the picture at all; his gaze will be directed precisely at the face of the person being portrayed.

Well, and, of course, you need to carefully work out the composition of the photo, and without regret, remove everything superfluous and unnecessary from the frame. Well, now let's try to summarize everything that we have outlined in this article today.

First. Choosing a place to create a portrait for photographers, even the most experienced ones, sometimes takes a lot of time and requires some creative work. However, this is exactly what your attention should be focused on before you start shooting.

Second. By choosing a place for shooting that is ideal for creating a portrait of a specific person, you can show his entire story in just one photograph, highlight his character for the viewer, convey the atmosphere created by this person, and tell about him as a rich personality. The main thing is that this person is recognizable not only visually, but also spiritually. So that his individuality, his human essence is visible in the portrait.

That's all for today. We can only wish you creative success. We hope that our recommendations will be useful to you.

Working in a studio is usually completely different from working on location, especially when it comes to shooting portraits. In location it is easy to focus on the model's face, but the surrounding environment also contributes. In addition, the studio has a lot of complex lighting equipment, and the photographer must create the light himself, and not adapt to the existing light.

Therefore, working in a studio often frightens novice photographers, leading them almost to a nervous breakdown. Here are 10 studio shooting tips that can really help you.

1. Think of studio shooting like bowling.

When shooting in a studio, the model should not change her position, and you should only move forward or backward. You cannot move to the right or left as you may disrupt the lighting pattern. The same applies to the model. Instead of taking two steps to the side, ask the model to turn around.

2. Use clockwise direction

Often the model and the photographer get confused in directions, because for her, your right is your left, and vice versa. So it's really very easy to get confused. At the same time, turning clockwise or counterclockwise is the same for you and for the model.

3. Where is the right, where is the left?

Clockwise orientation helps to some extent, but sometimes you still need to tell the model which way to go, and for this you need to know how to say it correctly. Among professional photographers It is customary to indicate the sides from the position of the model, since she does not have to think about where to go, but immediately follow the photographer’s command. It is very important to immediately agree with the model about this, especially if it is not a professional model.

4. Fixed focal length lenses

There are and always will be arguments for using zoom lenses in the studio, but if possible, use primes. They are usually sharper and brighter. A standard portrait lens has focal length approximately 80-200 mm. If you are using a camera with a sensor smaller than a film frame (crop), do not forget about this when choosing a lens. For full frame Canon cameras photographers prefer 85mm f/1.2 and 135mm f/2 lenses, and for crop cameras 50mm f/1.2 and 50mm f/1.4. Nikon photographers prefer the 85mm f/1.4

5. Be at the right height

Use the correct camera height for a variety of portraits, otherwise you risk getting the wrong perspective and distorted proportions. For a close-up portrait, hold the camera at the subject's eye level. If you're shooting a full-length portrait, hold the camera at chin level. For a half-length portrait, this will be the level of the chest, and for a full-length portrait, this will be the level of the abdomen. Although, for some creative shots you may need to lie down on the floor or use a stepladder.

6. 1/125 and forget it!

Camera settings for studio shooting are quite simple. Set your camera to manual mode, set ISO to 100 or 200 (if your camera doesn't have 100) and shutter speed to 1/125 sec. Because flashes are used, it makes no difference what shutter speed to use, 1/100, 1/125, 1/160 or even 1/200 sec.

7. Use a flash meter

Modern cameras have a very developed exposure metering system. But she can't help you in the studio. You won't be able to determine how much power to light the background or hair, for example, until you take test shots. With the help of a flash meter, you can adjust the lighting scheme immediately and correctly. Just because you can read a histogram on a camera doesn't mean you shouldn't use a flash meter. This will save you from unnecessary headaches due to lighting.

8. Focus on the eyes

Regardless of the aperture and depth of field you choose, the eyes are what tell the story of a portrait. Attention should always be on the eyes and they should always be in focus.

9. Custom White Balance

We constantly require you to use custom white balance, and for good reason! Light modifiers such as umbrellas, softboxes, dishes, and snoots have a small effect on the color temperature and coloration of the light. Therefore, setting a custom white balance before shooting will ensure the most accurate color reproduction.

10. Try just one light source.

Famed fashion photographer Helmut Newton was known for using only one light. This, along with changing the angle of the lighting, can create truly dramatic and stunning photographs. If you have many light sources, this does not mean. that they all need to be used. Try a simpler approach to lighting, working with one source instead of several.

Studio portraits are quite difficult to perform. We hope these 10 tips will help you and inspire you to take more beautiful photos and continue to improve.