One of the things we love about photography is the ability to connect with our subjects, leading to a chemistry filled, creative collaboration. Portrait photography does not just convey basic visual information about someone at a particular point in time. It has the ability to bring out the best magical moments of our subjects. Anybody can point their camera, and take a photo of someone. However, with a few pointers highlighted here, we hope to elevate your skills from being just ok, to wow!
1) Choice of Background
Pick neutral, uncluttered background that won’t take attention away from your portrait subject. Create contrast by choosing muted background tones. It does not however have to be a completely plain background. An example could be light-coloured, textured background as illustrated below.
2) Depth of Field
Shoot with a shallow depth of field, putting your key subjects in focus, helping your portrait subjects stand out. A wide aperture, with a low f-stop, like f/2.8 is able to produce images with shallow depth of field. For beginners to capture photos with amazing bokeh and shallow depth of field, we recommend using the 50mm f/1.8 lens. This is most affordable prime lens, which is light and compact for portrait shoots.
3) Focus on the Eyes
We often hear this saying that our eyes are the windows to our soul, and they have the ability to express a wide range of emotions. Portraits where the eyes are sharp, and in focus, are naturally more appealing and engaging.
We hope you have benefitted from this article with key takeaways for taking stunning portraits, and the tips you learn will improve your skills at portrait photography. It gives us joy to know that the content we share bring value to our customers, and we hope to continue creating valuable content for you. There is no end to learning, and we would love to hear from you as well. Should there be topics that are of interest to you, do write to us, and follow our Facebook page for content updates.