Basics Of Portrait Photography

We all enjoy snapping away with our digital cameras and more often than not we will be taking portraits of friends and partners. Unfortunately, although portraits or head and shoulders photos sound easy enough to take, quite often the results are less than great.

Too close, to far away or heads and other body parts mysteriously missing, let's face it we've all been there.

To help avoid those problems lets look at some basic principles and tips for taking portrait photography.

With a digital camera the problem of missing heads shouldn't be too difficult to solve. Always use the LCD screen to help compose the shot. Ensure everything you want to capture is centred in the screen as the photo produced will be exactly as you see it in the LCD screen.

Unless you are trying to take a professional style close up portrait don't worry about the background. In fact you should use the background to produce a really interesting shot. Now, I'm sure the person whose portrait you are taking is very interesting in their own right, but by allowing the background to add context to the shot the photograph will be enhanced and will really tell a tale about that person and their environment.

Don't worry about 'posing' your portraits as off the cuff or spur of the moment photographs can be the best. Of course, if it doesn't work out and you find the subject had already wandered out of shot when you pressed the shutter button then don't worry. Just delete the picture and move on.

One of the best tips in taking portraits, either posed or spontaneous shots, is to ensure that you fill the frame and use every available bit of space. Everything in the frame of the photo should add something to the portrait.

Another basic factor to consider when taking your portraits is the lighting. Most of us will I suspect be taking the majority of our portraits outdoors in the daylight so lighting won't really be a consideration.

But, if you are taking the photos indoors than there some things you need to think about. If there is natural light coming through a window it can be used to disseminate the shot by adding some nice gentle shadows. Be careful though, if the light is too bright the shadows will too strong though, if the portrait is a posed one, you could use white card to reflect the shadows.

Finally, when taking a portrait remember to focus on the eyes as they are a persons most important, and revealing, feature.

Andy Crozier is a professional Hull portrait photographer