Portrait's Important tips to know

Nov 02, 2019

As you know or must have noticed this when you started knowing/learning a thing into deep then more important information comes out to learn. I am going to highlight more important portrait tips which are more beneficial to shoot better shots. I have already written the article on portrait tips but it was on the basic stage.

Also, I would like to mention this, more you involve in portrait photography or any other genres, more you get the interesting information from every niche and corner. that's the beauty of learning anything.

1. Trust your guts - Technically OK but aesthetically, creatively, intuitions based on your experiences, filtrations, and your subconscious mind allowing you to shoot body language, speech, behaviour. Need to know tiny nuances. means how the photo looks, but more importantly how the photo feel. Break the rule to get something new.
2. Creative focusing- Focus on the eyes or make the eyes your focus- where is your subject is looking, looking at your camera, looking out of the frame, looking aways from the camera. when shooting a group photo, when everybody is looking at the camera, does not create more magic, but when everybody looking at different direction except one person looking at your camera make more interesting photographs.
3. Camera Setting- Think about the setting-- Different portrait should have different setting always. Never try to shoot a portrait at the same setting, here you need to understand your camera setting and your subject, Which setting will give you the better shot.
4. Use of lighting--Play with the light source, Different lighting, different mood, shades and shadows, Understand the camera flash, This may give bolder and bright photos like you are attacking the subject with the flood flashlight. Understand the distance between the light and the subject. Don't follow the complexity of the light set-up. Simple light setup will give you a better shot.
5. Let your subject be natural -- Be friendly with the subject. make him comfortable, chat with him and click. ask him to look at other direction etc.
6. Do not care & scare:- Learn Not to care, "you will worry less about what people think of you when you realise how seldom they do"
7. Choose the right lens-  Every lens delivers a different result, Choose the right lens, experiment with a different lens to shoot. If possible shoot the subject with Nikon and Canon lens too to check the better shots quality.
8. Know the law-- when shooting publically, you cannot shoot with anybody's concent otherwise you may be arrested. so know the rule.  never follow to shoot, this can be harassment, you cannot shoot celebrity because they are public image.  private property, public event etc. they can delete the image and can seize the equipment if they believe that you may perform the crime. It is the photographer's duty to know the rule before he or she captured in a public.
9. Take your time- Never be in a hurry, take your time to think, plan well, Tiny nuances will keep on changing like the face expression, body language, keep going on and wait for the right expression to shoot.
10. Be humble-  When shooting in the street, try to be more humble to capture. Keep walking silently and keep clicking until or unless people don't notice you. If any man or woman allows you to capture their shots then make sure that you will send his/her photograph via email or Whatsapp etc.

I hope, this information on the portrait shoot will definitely be going to help you. Portrait photography is one of the difficult genres. It takes a lot of time to understand and capture the better shot.

Keep experimenting and Have wonderful and happy photography to you all.

Photographer and Blogger Prasenjeet Gautam (www.prasenjeetgautam.com) has captured the above Image, INDIA