Portrait Tips
If you hand anyone a camera these days they can make a portrait. That said, we all know some are better than others. The key is consistency. The best portrait photographers consistently deliver excellent portraits with almost every subject they photograph.
Why?
What do they know that the average photographer does not? What tricks do they have up their sleeves that we can learn? This series will look to uncover some of those tricks.
Most Important
Whether you are taking simple school pictures or doing formal senior portraits, before you can learn how to take a great portrait, you have to know what NOT to do first.
Things You Should Never Do When Taking a Portrait
When I hire experienced photographers to do our youth or high school sports photos they sometimes think they are above the work. It doesn’t take long for me to show them that they do not know it all and that if they listen, they just might learn a thing or two. These rules apply to every kind of portrait from school pictures to wedding photography.
1. When taking your portrait, leave out the “T”.
Okay, so I am not talking about the actual letter in the word, rather, the composition of the subject’s body. You do not want their body to form a “T” in the photo. What I mean by “T” is when the subject is right in the middle of the frame with their back straight and their shoulders even across the photo. Their back and shoulders make a “T”. This makes the subject look stiff and uncomfortable. Unless you are a Marine Corps photographer trying to show the discipline of your subject, this isn’t the look you should be going for.
So how do we fix this? If you have your subject lean slightly forward or backward it will loosen them up a bit. Remember that a person’s personality should be reflected in a portrait. By following the “No T in Portrait” rule you should make sure they come out looking their best.
2.Nobody likes a Square.
In this case we are not talking about the shape, rather, the position of the person. If their body is square with the camera they are going to look wide. People look their widest when you can see the full front of their body. This poses a problem, especially for women. If you slightly turn the subject they will appear thinner and they will thank you for it!
Can you do what they do?
First you need to learn what they know. I don’t see any reason why you can’t, but you have to start off one step at a time. Even if you don’t have all of the equipment and resources that other portrait photographers have you can still produce high quality portraits by following some basic techniques and by understanding what makes a good portrait.
About the Author
Andy Stockglausner is the owner of MVP Studios, a San Diego photographer. MVP Studios provides San Diego elementary school pictures; youth sports photographers, San Diego event photographers and traditional photography services.
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