Portrait Shooting
As you probably already figured out I am not a portrait photographer. I do landscapes, real estate, product and anything for stock photography and the web. With portrait photography its setting up the shot and the getting your models to do exactly what you are wanting them to do to get that perfect shot. You know you’ll edit it in the digital darkroom to get the effects you want. So what is exactly needed to do portrait photography besides your model or subject?
First you’re going to need a location.
Thinking about your location your going to need lighting, and most important the backdrops. Some ideas on locations are great outdoors, a nice lobby of a big building that has soft skylights to give that diffused effect. Any place that will not distract from the subject but enhance the overall look and feel of what you are trying to portray.
Your lighting is very important you want soft diffused lighting, keep away from direct harsh fluorescent lights. And use a reflector to add additional soft light to the face area. Of course with a deflector either your subject will have to hold it in just the right place or get yourself an assistant, or have a deflector stand.
Your backdrop is important if you are setting up studio shooting. There are plenty of readily available commercial backdrops or a simple back drop you can make is using a wrinkled white sheet. (Sounds corny?) Pin the sheet so it drapes nicely and center your subject in the middle of the sheet. Recently I did this because I was shocked at the price of my son’s graduation pictures. The Portrait Company used plain white backdrops, and since I am a photographer I decided to recreate them myself. I took the sheet outside to get natural lighting had my son stand in front of them. Snapped off a few pictures edited them in Photoshop and then got them professionally printed at no other place but Wal-Mart. With some beautiful matting photo holders and no one could tell the difference. Saved me a total of $350.00.
References
Olympus.com
Photonet.com
vividlight.com
portrait, digital photography, tips
