Top Tips to Make the Most of Your Portraits
At Freepik, we want you to make the most of your photos no matter what you’re taking a picture of. When it comes to portrait photography, we know it’s not always an easy task to capture the essence. In this post we share with you some secrets on how to enhance your portraiture technique, so keep reading!
Portrait photography aims at capturing the essence of a person, their glance. It communicates emotions and actions and gives meaning to particular moments and concepts.
Thus, to take great portraits, it’s essential you pay close attention to the whole process, from the photo shoot itself to the editing stage. Here we give you some tips that will help you get stunning portraits:
Choose the light well
First of all, you need to think about the lighting. The light will be different depending on what you want to communicate. As a rule, the best option is to work with soft light and avoid shadows on the eyes and sharp contrasts. Reflectors are great for fine-tuning contrasts, decreasing light’s intensity and reducing shadows.
Pro tip: when working with intense light, measure the exposure to avoid losing the skin’s texture.
Use the aperture for proper focus
If you want to increase the depth of field of your photo, use a smaller aperture to focus the background. Have a look at this example:
Working with a wider aperture, on the contrary, makes the subject stand out. This way, the focus is on the person’s expression and on what it transmits:
The depth of field is paramount in microstock photography. With proper aperture settings, you’ll succeed in communicating the concept. No matter what it’s about.
Focus on the eyes
The eyes communicate a lot of information, whether the model is looking to the camera or away from it. Models sometimes direct their eyes to an element outside the frame, leaving an empty area that we call copy space. It refers to that less-busy area of an image where we can add text for advertising and commercial purposes.
The location is essential
Select a location that reinforces your message and shows the concept of each photo. Opting for a current style and an organized setting will make the most of your portrait. Less is more, so make your message clear by avoiding unnecessary elements.
Connect with your models
Breaking down the barriers between you and your models will help you capture their essence. Try to make some jokes and show them some shots so they feel confident. Poses aren’t only about models, the photographer also plays an important role. That’s why it’s essential that they receive some guidance from you and understand what you’re looking for.
Work with different perspectives
Close-up shots are the most common. You could also try other possibilities to get incredible results such as medium and full shots, extreme close-up shots or even a back view. Here is an example:
By following these tips not only will you take professional portraits, but also get stock photos that you’ll be able to share with everyone else! Here at Freepik, we offer you the possibility of sharing your work with the entire world and get some money from it. Become a contributor, upload your photos to Freepik and start making money!
