Tips for portrait photography?

DRZ · 16 May 2006 at 16:04

As title really - I havnt ever really turned my hand to portraiture before but I really would like to be able to take some nice shots of family and friends.

Unfortunately, I seem to have some sort of mental block when it comes to a proper shoot - I cant get "into" it like I can with other shots.

I can take candids of people, thats no bother!

Thats probably the 'best' "portrait" style shot I have taken. Maybe a shot of my cat, but that doesnt really count.

I see people here posting amazing portrait shots and its something I just cant seem to manage - how do you do it?

RiPz · 16 May 2006 at 16:06

less beard.

Lostkat · 16 May 2006 at 16:30

RiPz said:
less beard.

Lies.

DRZ · 16 May 2006 at 16:37

Thanks for the tips

cyKey · 16 May 2006 at 20:44

A quick tip is to look at other portrait photos and try and reproduce them. I also remember some stuff from a magazine. Always have the camera either at eye height or just below looking up. Looking up gives a great sense of presence. The best thing is to keep a look out for Practical Photography. I think they usually do a section on portraits.

Dfhaii · 16 May 2006 at 20:48

photo.net is great for portraits (as you've probably seen from my irc spamming), and iirc has a guide on portraiture. General reccomendations are a focal length of 85mm-135mm, and wide open, but they're not set in stone.

One vital thing, make sure the subjects eyes are in sharp focus, as it can ruin what would be a great shot having them slightly off and the tip of their nose razor sharp.

MichaelG · 16 May 2006 at 22:04

I've been trying to practice portraits too. I can never get enough light indoors. (I don't really want to shell out on a flash)
Outdoors I seem to always get lumpy backgrounds.

Magazine portraits don't tend to have such problems, because they are often done in a studio with fancy lighting. Any suggestions?

PaulStat · 17 May 2006 at 08:41

cyKey said:
A quick tip is to look at other portrait photos and try and reproduce them. I also remember some stuff from a magazine. Always have the camera either at eye height or just below looking up. Looking up gives a great sense of presence. The best thing is to keep a look out for Practical Photography. I think they usually do a section on portraits.

Do you ever take that beany hat off?