Portrait Photography can be one of the most rewarding facets of being a photographer. Whether your interest is to just create family portraits for your albums and scrapbooks, or to break into a new business photographing people professionally, there are a few essentials and tips you will want to consider as you are getting started.
Let us begin by discussing some basic equipment that you will need. First, these recommendations are directed mainly toward using a digital camera. Those who wish to use film and standard cameras can still learn from the tips, but you will probably get a little more out of these suggestions if you are using a digital camera. In the recent past, photographing people in portrait-like settings would not have been very easily accomplished using a digital camera. However, in recent years, digital cameras have become very accurate, versatile, and much more convenient to use than the standard film camera. Also, note that creating portraits using a very inexpensive digital camera that has very little feature control, would not be recommended. In order to produce what would be a fairly professional-looking portrait, you will need to have the following features in your digital camera. Primarily, it is fairly important that your camera has an adjustable-setting flash. Preferably, it will allow you to switch between low, medium, and high settings. Next, you will want to refer to your camera manual and ascertain if your camera has some manual control settings such as aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual exposure settings. These settings will help to control the amount of light you are allowing to be placed in your photos. Once you have a basic understanding of these features, you will be ready to set up your studio and work with your model subjects. Before we get into working with your subjects, let us briefly touch on some lighting considerations.
Basic lighting for your photography studio does not have to be ‘rocket science.’ Simple lighting techniques, such as window light can be used successfully to create beautiful portraits. For this particular technique, find a window in your home that allows a good amount of light in. Cover that window with a sheer, white curtain, which will somewhat ‘soften’ the light that shines in. Place your model/subject so that one side of their face and body is near the window. This will cast light onto one side of your subject, and depending how close you sit or stand your subject to the window, more of them will be lit by the incoming sunlight. It is helpful to place a stool where you will have your subject standing or sitting near the window. Move the stool around, having the model sit on it in different positions until you see a lighting effect that you are pleased with. This soft lighting is very flattering to any and all people that you would photograph, and since you are shooting with a digital camera, you will be able to see your results immediately! As the sunlight starts to dwindle, you will want to place an incandescent light somewhere near your subject, preferably on the other side, opposite the window. This will give you some balance if your window light is starting to disappear. After a certain point, of course, you will have to resort to a different lighting scheme, as it will be too dark to have any window light at all.
If you are able to invest in some studio ‘hot lights,’ they will be a wonderful addition to your home portrait studio. Hot light bulbs, which are usually 120 watts, cost somewhere between $25, and $50 each. You will also need some reflector dishes which contain a ceramic light fixture. Under no circumstances should you use anything but ceramic socket fixtures for studio hot lights, as the heat generated by these lights would melt any other type of light fixture. You will also need some type of tripod for each light to be affixed to. If you decide to go with this type of lighting, you should also consider having a lower-wattage light bulb suspended from the ceiling which will serve as your ‘hair light.’ Some photographers use all of these lights with a fill flash additionally. This will create a very balanced, bright portrait. Always practice, and check your results after each frame you shoot. Of course, I probably need not mention that you will want to make sure that none of the stationary light fixtures are visible in any of your compositions!
It is not advisable to try to shoot portraits under fluorescent lighting. These lights, while fine in an office environment, create terrible color shifts in photographs. Even if your digital camera has adjustments for different types of lighting, it is still not advisable to shoot photos of people under fluorescent lights. Just try one, and you will see what I mean!
On the subject of backdrops, you don’t really need one if you pick a neutral wall for your portrait photographs. However, you can suspend a light, neutrally-colored sheet from a frame you can construct yourself, or you can even spray paint a design on a sheet. This part is up to you, so be creative and have some fun. Have some friends over for a ‘backdrop painting party’ and then make them all take turns being your subjects so you can practice your portraiture skills!
Working with models can be both fun and challenging. There are a few tips to consider about working with people in general. First, practice on family members, this way, you do not have to create a ‘masterpiece’ the first time out! When photographing women, have them wear a top that does not blend with their hair color and your background. For instance, if you are photographing a blonde near a lightly-colored backdrop, she should wear a darker top, such as red, dark blue, dark green, or black. If you photograph a blonde wearing a white or beige top, and your background is light, you will end up with a rather washed-out, bright photo. This is applicable in the opposite, to dark haired persons as well, just use common sense when choosing what the subject will wear in your portrait. If you are photographing older or more elderly subjects, place a diffusion filter on your camera lens. The diffusion filter lessens the look of wrinkles and facial flaws, and gives a softer look to the subject, which is more attractive. You need not mention what you are placing on your lens, just do it, and everyone will enjoy the result! Check your subject for hairs out-of-place, and shiny or oily patches on their faces before you take reams of photos that will be unusable. Make sure to keep some face powder handy for blotting the shiny areas on some faces. Be careful when shooting photos of spectacle-wearers. Inquire to see if their glasses have an anti-glare finish. If they do, that will be terrific, as you will get very little glare from the glasses as your flash fires. However, if their glasses are not anti-glare coated, you will have to try some creative angles with your lighting, flash, and camera placement. Otherwise, you will have unsightly ‘glare spots’ on both lenses of the person’s glasses. The nice thing about having a digital camera, once again, is that you will be able to see what your result is immediately.
The last tip is to make sure that your flash does not reflect directly into the model or subject’s eyes. This can make an unsightly retina reflection, which usually translates into red dots in the person’s eyes. Adjust your flash so that it is slightly higher than the line of sight of your model, this way there is less chance of the red-eye effect.
Setting up your home portrait studio can be fun and exciting! Experiment with some of these tips, and enjoy shooting attractive portraits of your family and friends. Oh, and don’t forget your pets, you need great portraits of them, too!
