How to Take Professional Portraits

Portrait photography is a type of photography that aims to capture a mood or emotion of a person through the use of backdrops, poses, and lighting. I am going to take you through my step by step process to capture a beautiful portrait, whether it is just for fun or for work!

Select Your Subject

The most important part of portrait photography is your subject because the images being captured will revolve around this subject. The goal of these photo shoots is to portray your subject’s personality through your images. Standing in front of a camera can be nerve wracking, so in order to do this you must make your subject comfortable. Friends or clients, I usually spend some time talking with the subject in order to warm them up to the camera. Learn some personal information like their hobbies so you can discuss them during the shoot to keep them relaxed.

Pick the Background for Your Subject

The background of your photo is almost as important as your subject. This is where you are able to tell a story and add some depth to your photo. Personally I am a huge fan of natural sunlight as my lighting, so I tend to do most of my portraits outdoors. Finding a background for your subject is very important, however, it can be very simple. I enjoy the adventure that goes along with a shoot, so some of my backgrounds are slightly complex. Although, sometimes I go for a drive and stop at random locations I think might work. My first two examples below are complex backgrounds and the following are simple locations I found on the go.

Pose Your Subject

The next step to capturing a beautiful set of portraits is to pose your subject. I find this as one of the trickiest parts, especially if you’re posing your friends who aren’t real models. This part may be awkward for yourself and your subject, but not if you have fun with it. Arms and hands are very important in portrait photography because they have the ability to completely change the look of a picture. Once you have decided on their pose, you need to position their face, most importantly their eyes, mouth and chin. You’re usually going to want a straight expression or a genuine smile. Either of these can be accomplished through your direction and ability to make them laugh. It is important to focus your camera on the subjects eyes, and have their chin pointed slightly down to avoid any unflattering angles. I’ve included two of my photos showing the difference between a staged and genuine smile.

Lighting and Post Production

Obviously I have left out two very important parts of taking a great set of portraits; lighting and post production! I will be discussing both of these subjects in their own blogs to provide you with the most information possible on these very important components of photography!