Learn which lenses, camera settings, lighting techniques, and poses are used to create photographic portraits that express the true character of the person in the scene. Get helpful tips for portraits of babies, groups, and couples, and for self-portraits, as well.
A photographic portrait is more than just a picture of a person. The best portraits aim to express the essence of a person’s nature and reveal characteristics that would go unnoticed in an ordinary snap-shot. Although professional equipment gives the photographer a wider range of options, an amateur photographer with just a point-and-shoot camera, day light, and a simple reflector can create portraits that capture the subject’s personality just as well.
Choose the Optimal Camera Lens and Settings
If you’re using a camera with interchangeable lenses, choosing a short telephoto lens—85-135mm for a 35mm camera—will produce optimal results. For head shots, the 105-135mm range works well. The short telephoto range allows you to move in close enough fill the frame with the subject, but causes minimal distortion of perspective.
Using a wide-angle lens will force you to move up close to the subject to fill the frame, which widens the perspective and distorts the subject's features. Alternatively, with a long lens like a 200mm or 400mm you’ll have to move back, which compresses perspective and makes the subject’s features appear flat. Many digital cameras offer a portrait mode that’s worth experimenting with. Depending on the camera, this mode may automatically zoom in on the person in the frame, use soft focus to even out skin tones and minimize the background, and fire the camera’s flash unit when the shutter button is pressed.
Arrange the Scene
The focus of a portrait is a person or group and a cluttered background only distracts from this focus. Before you shoot, frame the subject in the viewfinder and check the background for anything that might draw attention away from the subject. Are there any objects with conspicuous colors or shapes? Is the subject standing in front of any tree branches or poles that, in the two-dimensional photograph, will appear to be growing out of their body? If you can’t move the subject or shoot from a different angle, open up the lens for less depth of field, which will blur the background enough to make it less obtrusive.
Choose the Lighting
Lighting is a major factor in setting the mood of the portrait. Bright lighting expresses vibrancy and happiness, while low lighting produces a feeling of tranquility or melancholy. To create a sense of drama, the subject can be lit from one side only. Indoors, try to move your subject near a window, instead of relying on the on-camera flash. Early morning and late afternoon light is less direct and can add a pleasing glow to the scene. Outdoors, the gentle, diffused light of an overcast day can help conceal facial flaws. Bright sunlight, however, not only casts harsh shadows and exposes flaws, it also makes people squint. On sunny days, move the subject into the open shade under a tree or beside a building, or wait for a passing cloud.
Bright light does have its uses, though. Whether in sun or open shade, fill flash can be used to soften shadows and cast enough extra light on the subject to help set the person apart from the background. Flash can also add sparkle—or "catchlights"—to the eyes. This sparkle will often occur naturally if the subject is lit from the front. If the light is coming from the side, though, a low-intensity light source placed off to one side of the camera can also produce catchlights.
If you don’t have a fill flash or extra light source, a reflector can work just as well. Although purpose-built photographic reflectors are the easiest to work with, a two- or three-foot square of cardboard covered with crinkled aluminum foil, a section white poster board, or even a car windshield reflector can be used to direct light onto the subject.
Posing
For casual or even semi-formal portraits, posing doesn’t have to take much time. In fact, candid shots often reveal more of the subject’s character than formally posed shots. That doesn’t necessarily mean less work for you as the photographer, though. Rather than asking the subject to adjust to your camera angle, you’ll get better results by letting the subject move and pose naturally and moving your camera to capture the best angle.
Showing the subject interacting with their environment or with props can also express a lot about the subject’s personality and interests. For instance, an avid woodworker might be shown working on a project or sitting beside a completed project. Social interaction also offers great photo opportunities. As an added benefit, a person involved in something is paying less attention to the camera and is better able to relax and act naturally. While smiles and laughter are always welcome, a serious or contemplative expression also offers a glimpse of the subject’s disposition.
Aim to Flatter
Who doesn’t have some aspect of their face that they’d rather not have caught on film? Just being aware of how camera angle, lighting, and the subject’s pose affect the appearance of facial features will help you conceal imperfections and portray your subjects at their best. To minimize a large nose, have the subject raise their chin slightly and photograph from straight on. To reduce the appearance of wrinkles and blemishes, use soft lighting from the front. A double chin can be disguised if the subject raises their chin and leans their head toward camera slightly. A full face will appear slimmer from a 3/4 angle and if only that side of the face that’s turned away from the camera is illuminated. If the subject has large ears, a 3/4 angle with one ear in the shadows will produce a more attractive look. When photographing someone in glasses, take care that the light won’t be reflected off the lenses. If the person prefers not to remove their glasses, have them turn their face away from lights or use only overhead lighting. When looking for the most flattering pose, keep in mind that if you have the subject tilt their head up, but then you raise the camera, you’ve just cancelled out the disguising effect of the head angle.
Babies and young children
New babies have inspired more amateur photographers than perhaps any other subject. Everyone wants to capture the fleeting moments of babyhood, but those moments are not always so easy to capture. The most important consideration is the baby’s comfort. Work quickly and let the baby rest every few minutes or smiles will be in short supply.
For a simple setting indoors, drape a blanket of a solid, light color over a piece of furniture. The baby can then sit or lie on a blanket in front of this backdrop. Costumes may be cute, but they can cause more trouble than they’re worth. To minimize stress on the baby, add just the suggestion of a costume or setting, such as a hat or a toy. Use props with similar color tones and shapes to keep the scene uniform.
For a baby lying on his or her back, photos can be taken from the side straight on or at an angle slightly below that. Another option is to stand directly over the baby and shoot straight down. For babies lying face down, be sure that the head is turned so that the baby’s face is completely visible. When photographing young children, rather than standing and shooting down at them, get down on their eye level to avoid distorted perspective.
Groups and Couples
Varying physical size, as well as varying attention spans, make photographing a group a challenge for most beginning photographers. Most group photos attempt to express the unity of the group. Arranging people around a large object such as a car, tree, or piece of furniture can help create this effect. Likewise, unity can be shown by having members of the group touch or stand at varying depths within the scene, rather than shoulder to shoulder. For large groups, arranging people in several interconnected sub-groups can give the scene better visual balance. The image will be more appealing if heights are staggered, but men usually prefer to appear taller than women. In the ideal situation, everyone should wear clothing of the same tone, but for unplanned shots, place brightly clothed people in the middle of the group. For married or dating couples, a sense of intimacy can be created by posing the couple facing each other or with each person facing the camera, either side by side or with one behind the other. Minimal physical space between the two people also adds a sense of affection to the portrait.
Frame the Subject
To present the subject as the central element in the image, it’s important to fill the frame by getting as close to the subject as is feasible. That said, framing the subject with an interesting element in the foreground, such as doorway or tree, can add personality to the scene. To create visual balance, imagine the frame being divided by three imaginary lines both vertically and horizontally and place the subject where those lines cross. Also, consider how much of the subject you want to appear in the frame. Will you focus on just the head and shoulders or take a few full-length shots, as well? While portraits lend themselves to the vertical format, don’t neglect the horizontal format, either. As you shoot, keep moving around to adjust your angle of view and capture various aspects of the subject.
Self Portraits
Taking a picture of yourself may not be as hard as you think. The most common method is to simply frame a setting and use the self-timer to give you a moment to get into the scene before the shutter is released. Another method is to use a mirror, although this usually means the camera will also be in the scene. If you don’t a picture of yourself with a camera up to your face, focus first, then hold the camera at chest level or off to one side to take the photo. Remember that autofocus will usually focus on the mirror’s surface, rather than the image reflected in it. If you want to use autofocus, first focus on an object that's at the same distance as the reflection, lock in that focus, and then take the photograph.
By learning the lighting and posing techniques used for taking photographic portraits, you can create expressive images that reveal the true character of the person in the scene.
External Links:
Ephotozine - Ephotozine offers guides to specialty portrait including tips for taking candid shots at weddings and photographing people of color.