Portraiture Photography (yes, of Humans not Herps)

Photography knowledge exchange.

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TravisK
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Joined: July 8th, 2010, 11:14 am
Location: Eastern Washington

Portraiture Photography (yes, of Humans not Herps)

Post by TravisK »

I know, I know... this is a herp forum, but this subforum is the image lab and we have some very good photographers in our ranks.

Since I have a decent decent camera now I have been playing around with portraits. I would like to end up taking some pictures of Family and Friends that would look really nice on large prints to hang in the house. So far these are the ones I like the most but I am not too horribly impressed with them.

Do any of you have some portrait shots that you would like to share, and tips/tricks to shoot good portraits?

I would be interested in knowing some tricks of the trade (like the rule of thirds) for portraiture if there is anything like that. Can't wait to see what you guys have done for shooting the Humans you encounter in life.

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CCarille
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Re: Portraiture Photography (yes, of Humans not Herps)

Post by CCarille »

I don't think I'm in any way the perfect portrait photographer (I'm aware of my weaknesses in photography and portraiture is one of them), but my favorite "portrait" type photographs I've taken are the ones that aren't planned. I think capturing unique (real vague right?) people in certain situations makes for the best shots.

If you're looking to do portrait photography some basic "rules" would be to have your subjects tilt their heads slightly downward and turned slightly to the side - more flattering (think school photos); arrange a group in height order to direct attention to a certain couple (wedding and other focused shots with supporting subjects); be creative with lighting (set a mood) and objects (fun props); place smaller subjects in the foreground/taller in the background to offset height differences. I'd also suggest finding some shots you really like and playing around to "copy" them to see how they were done and what type of setting you find the best for yourself to shoot at.

Here are some of my favorites I've taken (hope you don't mind me posting some photos here). All are different from one-another and I think all work well for different reasons.
The groom helping his son get dressed and realizing the hole on the tie is too small:
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Groom joking around with bride in between set-up shots:
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Flower girl posing as a model (I know the worst place for a watermark):
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Muslim girl at school in Sukau, happy to see a group of foreigners coming in:
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Not really a portrait but I love the dof on images like this. A guide in the Peruvian Amazon showing off some kind of fruit that had the texture of mushy banana, with peach like flesh around seeds (in sections), and tasted like chocolate (a ridiculous combination I can't remember the name of):
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Joseph Karama, a friend from Rwanda (works at Volcanoes National Park) whom was dressed in traditional Muslim garb (as was I), thanking our hosts at Sukau, Sabah, Borneo:
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Lastly, a little girl (came with guests) from a wedding that was incredibly shy (she was held for most of the time, up until this moment when her parents put her down to congratulate the Bride & Groom in the reception line):
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TravisK
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Re: Portraiture Photography (yes, of Humans not Herps)

Post by TravisK »

CCarille wrote:Here are some of my favorites I've taken (hope you don't mind me posting some photos here)
Not at all, that is what this thread is for. Thanks for sharing those and feel free to critique as well.

FYI, the Peruvian Guide and the Muslim Girl are my favorites from the set above.
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CCarille
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Re: Portraiture Photography (yes, of Humans not Herps)

Post by CCarille »

TravisK wrote:FYI, the Peruvian Guide and the Muslim Girl are my favorites from the set above.
Thanks Travis! I love that guide shot also.

I'm surprised no one else has chimed in yet to comment. I know a lot of people here do a lot of photographic work, though I'm unsure of how many do portrait work.

Take this all with a grain of salt...
I'd have to say the 3rd, 5th, and last shot work well. If I had to comment on these three I would say I think the 5th shot I'd crop more off of the top - removing the top inch of head and bringing more focus to the eyes. The last shot I'd remove the stray hair coming out of her hat on the left - for some reason to me, it's just very distracting.

The 4th shot doesn't work for me because it looks overexposed and all of the lines of focus (rule of thirds) fall on awkward points (her hair, chin, more hair, etc). I think cropping the photo more and decreasing exposure would help... possibly adding color back could work as well, bringing in some of the yellow warmth of sunlight the photo portrays. The 2nd photo isn't appealing to me. I think photos with mouths open are distracting (unless it's a surprised look). I usually trash most of the photos like this from weddings. Impossible to avoid shots like this though because you can't always predict what someone is going to do with their mouth.

The first photo I like, but I think I'd crop a little more off the top and an inch or two off of the left. Her eyes are what make the photo great, so cropping the focus more onto them would improve the photo.
Erik Williams
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:57 pm

Re: Portraiture Photography (yes, of Humans not Herps)

Post by Erik Williams »

So I know this isn't much help, but I'll second the use of black. Your shots are high key which don't always need black, but you have high contrast lighting also (like in between strands of hair) that would really benefit from black.

Other than that, I've always shot people candidly. I've tried setting up lights and found it's easier to get good shots without them. I prefer light that is from forward/above/side, like putting the sun behind you and to your right (for instance). have your camera out so that it blends in and won't distract the unsuspecting victim. Shoot discretely. Really wide lenses force perspective, which can be nice. Fast lenses can isolate subjects from busy backgrounds. Same stuff that we think about with herps. All the golden rules still apply. I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

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