 |
|
By Martin Wilmott
There are very few rules to portrait photography. The few rules there
are can be broken and still result in good images. What I have
attempted to give you here is some quick tips to hopefully help you to
improve your image taking.
1. Make it Personal
When photographing people involve something that makes it more personal
and about that individual. One of my favourite images shows a little
girl in what is to her a very natural environment. Her grandfather
breeds and races pigeons and since she could walk she has helped him in
the daily tasks of cleaning and feeding them. The photograph shows her
with the pigeon on her lap as she feeds it peanuts. I always look to
try and capture images that tell stories and capture a little bit of
the true spirit of the person being photographed making it so much more
personal.
|
|
2. Have Fun
False smiles are hideous and should be banned. Asking someone to smile or say
cheese is a last resort. If you want natural smiles and laughs you need to
create things for people to smile or laugh about. Personally I much prefer
images with people laughing out loud to a posed straightforward Victorian
styled portrait.
3. Always be Ready
I always remember a certain portrait session. I had been photographing a family
on the beach. The little girl decided she wanted to climb onto a small pier
that led out to sea. Luckily I had my camera out and managed to capture a few
frames as she crawled along. Had I attempted to set this image up there are a
million things that would have got in the way. As luck had it everything went
right and a fantastic image was captured.
4. Get in close
Don't be afraid to get in close and clip the tip of people's heads out of the
frame. Very often it helps the image, giving it a more dramatic approach.
If your camera doesn't have a zoom facility, then move closer physically.
5. Take Photographs Outside
You will get far, far better images of young children if you allow them to
play. As long as you pick a safe area you can let them run loose and do as they
wish leaving you free to concentrate on capturing some magical moments. In my
portrait business I take 98% of my images outside. I know this works as I
continually receive more and more referral business from happy clients who
recognize the joy and happiness in their child's expressions.
6. Catch people unawares
Very often the best images are when people don't realize they are having their
photograph taken. I recently shot a portrait session in London of a young
couple. The girl had large ties to a market and wanted some atmospheric images.
However her partner wasn't keen to be photographed in public. I solved the
problem by using a long lens and concentrated on capturing some totally natural
images as they were walking around the market.
7. Change the angle you are shooting from
I always have a change of clothes with me when I am on a shoot because I tend
to end up covered in mud. Don't be afraid to lie on the ground. You will be
rewarded by the images you take.
8. Capture natural reactions
Encourage people to react normally as they would every day. One of the joys of
my job is taking images of new mums and their babies. I know if I ask mum to
get in close to the baby nine times out of ten I will get a totally natural
reaction as the baby and mother react to each other. All that is needed is for
me to them judge the right time and capture the image.
I find if you ask people to get closer than they would normally do it will
cause them to laugh. However this is not the case with teenagers as they see it
as un-cool to like brothers / sisters so with this age group different
approaches are needed.
9. Consider your background very carefully
The background is as important as the subject you are photographing. Ensure it
is pleasing to the eye without distracting away from the image. Some colours
are worth avoiding. Red for example will trigger the eye to look at it
immediately and drag attention away from the main subject. People far cleverer
than me have attempted to explain why (something to do with it being nature's
danger colour). The best thing to do when lining up your photograph is to avoid
red altogether.
10. Practice
You can read a million books and visit every website on the planet but I
believe there is no substitute to actually doing something and learning by
experience. I personally run training days for people who like yourself just
want to have a go at a new style of image making. The people who attend have
various skill levels but as I place the emphasis on being as low tech as
possible they are of use for everybody from the amateur through to the seasoned
professional.
11 Be different
Try and do something out of the ordinary. Use your imagination to create images
that stand out. If everyone else does a top ten do a top eleven, it will bring
more interest guaranteed because it is out of the ordinary.
I wish you luck on your future image making and hope we can talk at some stage
in the future.
Have Fun
Martin W.
|
|
|
