Portriat Photography
What is Portrait Photography?Portrait photography is all about people. How to show them at their best is a challenge. Of course, if photography, portraits were as simple as shouting ‘cheese!’, we’d all be doing it.
Good portrait photographers are able to capture the personality and emotion of people around them. Below are 4 masters whom have perfected the art and have very distinctive styles. We will be going through their art and discussing their styles so you can use their wisdom on your portrait photography .
Good portrait photographers are able to capture the personality and emotion of people around them. Below are 4 masters whom have perfected the art and have very distinctive styles. We will be going through their art and discussing their styles so you can use their wisdom on your portrait photography .
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Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an iconic fashion and portrait photographer whose work helped define the style, beauty and culture of the United States during the twentieth century. Style His portraits reflected a great deal of complexity. Through taking portrait photography he created art that captured direction, emotions and even personality. He was in complete control of what his subjects—the people in front of his lens—were portraying. His iconic portraits of celebrities, spanned more than half of the 20th century, and included Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, The Beatles, Andy Warhol, and Tupac Shakur. “My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph,” he once observed. Perhaps Avedon’s biggest stylistic impact was his decision to have his subjects emote—initially working during a time when the prevailing trend had been to present portraits that were still and subdued, his photographs stood out with their intimate viewpoint. |
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Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz is a celebrated American photographer best known for her engaging and dramatic celebrity portraits. Adept at capturing her subject’s personality and inner life, her images reflect intimate or staged moments that reveal the playful and expressive aspects of her sitters, as seen in her Disney Dream Portraits (2011). “I no longer believe that there is such a thing as objectivity,” she once said. “Everyone has a point of view. Some people call it style, but what we’re really talking about is the guts of a photograph. When you trust your point of view, that’s when you start taking pictures.” (http://www.artnet.com/artists/annie-leibovitz/) Style Trademarks of Leibovitz’s style are bold contrasts and dramatic poses, and she cites photographers Robert Frank and Richard Avedon as influences. Perhaps her most famous image is the raw, intimate portrait of a nude John Lennon clinging to wife Yoko Ono, taken for the cover of Rolling Stone only hours before Lennon was killed. |
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Philippe Halsman
After a tragic experience in his early twenties caused him to leave his native Austria and make a new home in France, Philippe Halsman eventually began contributing to fashion magazines. Finally stumbling into Vogue, he quickly gained the reputation of being the best portrait photographer in all of France. Throughout his career, he photographed dozens of talented and iconic individuals such as Louis Armstrong, Audrey Hepburn and Albert Einstein. However, I think his most notable subject was Salvador Dalí because of their partnership in creating out-of-this-world images like the famous Dali Atomicus. Style in 1961, Halsman took his work and influence one step further and published Halsman on the Creation of Photographic Ideas to stimulate photographers to pursue unusual images by following six rules. These rules are:
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Assignment one: REviewing the "Greats" and Portriat Photography intro
Shooting Portriat photography
Camera Settings for Portrait Photography
Camera mode: Manual or Aperture Priority
Shutter Speed: 1/250 or faster (or 1/LENS mm)
Aperture: Wide open (f/1.4-f/5)
ISO: As low as possible; 100 to 400
White Balance: Auto WB (Shoot in RAW you can change in post later)
Autofocus: AI-Servo Drive
Mode: Single
Light Metering: Exposure
When shooting portraits, light skin tones can easily trick the camera into underexposing the shot. You'll notice this more when shooting full-face photos or when there's lots of white in the scene - brides at weddings are a prime example. This can be quickly corrected though with your camera's Exposure Compensation controls. To begin with, try dialing in up to +1 stop of positive Exposure Compensation to lighten up people's faces. Review your shots, and if you feel you they need to be lightened further, increase this further.
Aperture
When shooting portraits, it's best to set a wide aperture (around f/2.8-f/5.6) to capture a shallow depth of field, so the background behind your subject is nicely blurred, making them stand out better. Shoot in Aperture Priority mode to control depth of field; in this mode your DSLR will helpfully set the shutter speed for a correct exposure. Specialist portrait lenses tend to have even wider maximum apertures (from f/1.4 to f/2.8) in order to blur backgrounds further.
Shutter
Speed As a general rule, make sure your shutter speed is higher than your effective focal length. For example, at 200mm use a 1/250 sec shutter speed or faster.
Focus
When shooting place your focus on the face and more specifically on the eye.
Camera mode: Manual or Aperture Priority
Shutter Speed: 1/250 or faster (or 1/LENS mm)
Aperture: Wide open (f/1.4-f/5)
ISO: As low as possible; 100 to 400
White Balance: Auto WB (Shoot in RAW you can change in post later)
Autofocus: AI-Servo Drive
Mode: Single
Light Metering: Exposure
When shooting portraits, light skin tones can easily trick the camera into underexposing the shot. You'll notice this more when shooting full-face photos or when there's lots of white in the scene - brides at weddings are a prime example. This can be quickly corrected though with your camera's Exposure Compensation controls. To begin with, try dialing in up to +1 stop of positive Exposure Compensation to lighten up people's faces. Review your shots, and if you feel you they need to be lightened further, increase this further.
Aperture
When shooting portraits, it's best to set a wide aperture (around f/2.8-f/5.6) to capture a shallow depth of field, so the background behind your subject is nicely blurred, making them stand out better. Shoot in Aperture Priority mode to control depth of field; in this mode your DSLR will helpfully set the shutter speed for a correct exposure. Specialist portrait lenses tend to have even wider maximum apertures (from f/1.4 to f/2.8) in order to blur backgrounds further.
Shutter
Speed As a general rule, make sure your shutter speed is higher than your effective focal length. For example, at 200mm use a 1/250 sec shutter speed or faster.
Focus
When shooting place your focus on the face and more specifically on the eye.
Assignment : Portriture Photo Shoot Assignment
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4 (good)- Face portraitsTake at least 4 different facial portraits with the person's face filling the 3/4 of the frame!!!!!!! These are essentially close ups. Illuminate your model for from the side using a lamp so that one half is in shadow. Try for a lot of contrast! Shoot your subject against a black background or a dark room. Use a large aperture (f-2.8, - F4) This will limit your depth of field. Double check your focus .... no blurry ppl. we do have tripods!!!
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4 (good) Bust PortraitsIncluding the chest, head and arms take at least 2 good portraits. Have a subject pose so that their arms lead to the viewer to their face.... hmm how should they pose their hands, ?Encourage your subject to relax.
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2 (good) Full body portraits framed by an object.Include the person's entire body in these photos. Be Creative, find spots that have something framing in the background. A window or a tree, or doorway all works.
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2 (good) interactive PortriatsPose your subject interacting with something. It can be an object or it can be another person. Make sure that there is a purpose of these. Why is the person in the photo with this. Are they touching or holding? How are connected? Get creative
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2 (good) personality portraitsShoot at least two pictures that reveal the person's personality through the use of poses and or props. (Costume, makeups objects, etc.)
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