How to Take a Great Portrait Photo
There are a lot of elements to portrait photography but here are some
tips to help you accentuate certain aspects of a portrait, such as hair,
cosmetics and jewelry that should help you produce a much more elegant
shot in the long run.
Photographing Hair
Remove one of the front lights on the model and replace with a
tungsten hair light that is positioned above and behind your model.
Replace the front light with a reflector.
Eliminate flare from hitting the lens of the camera in a very
inexpensive, low tech way. Take a piece of cardboard or black paper and
tape it to the top of the tungsten light facing the direction of the
lens. This will eliminate the light from hitting the camera lens and
keeps the focus on the hair instead.
Position the key light on one side with the reflector on the other side,
and with the hair light above and off to the side a bit, it will
separate the shoulders from the background giving even more definition
to the hairstyle that is being captured on film.
Photographing Cosmetics
When focusing on cosmetics, it is all in the angles and lighting. To
accentuate certain features of the face follow some of these quick tips.
It’s all in the Eyes
If your model has more shallow eye sockets that you would like, then
increase the fill light, scoot the main light source away and to the
side of the model and raise it as well. This will trick the eye into
seeing a flatter depth, and the eyes will appear less shallow. If the
model has deep eye sockets, then simply reverse this procedure; reduce
the fill light, bring the main light closer to the subject and lower the
angle of the main light and you will create the opposite effect.
Hiding Blemishes
Not everyone is blessed with the perfect skin, including many of the
models and stars you see today. Reduce the appearance of any apparent
blemishes by using the soft focus approach. This requires using a larger
aperture of the lens; there will be less depth focus and a slight
blurring as a result. Remember to always focus on the eyes when using a
soft focus approach.
Following these tips will accentuate the cosmetic application on the
models face with fewer distractions for the eyes to focus on.
Taking Photos of Jewelry
It is all about the lighting when capturing the details and color of
jewelry. The best way to photograph jewelry indoors is to have lighting
from every angle; both sides, the front as well as from on top in
addition to using a light reflector in the front and off to the side a
bit. This will give a very clear photo with a lot of detail and you can
play around with the contrast on your computer or with the intensity of
the lighting itself.
Following these simple tips should really help you accentuate focus
features such as hair, cosmetics and jewelry much easier with a lot less
hassle.
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