Things To Note To Help You Take Good Portrait Photos
Photography involves more than just getting the best camera and lens. It involves using the right equipment and setting to bring out the best of what you are shooting. For example, if you are shooting a landscape, you want to use as wide an angle as possible to capture as much of the landscape as you can. However, if you use the same wide-angle lens to shoot a portrait, it might result in the subject appearing distorted. There are also lighting mistakes to avoid when taking portraits in a studio.
Portrait photography is a photography style that involves the portrayal of humans. The first portrait photo was shot in 1839 by Robert Cornelius, who actually shot a self-portrait, most commonly known nowadays as a selfie. Today, the modern camera has evolved beyond what Robert Cornelius used. Most camera nowadays allows you to adjust various aspects of photo compositions. From adjusting the exposure and ISO to changing shutter speeds and aperture, modern cameras are widely versatile and serve different needs and requirements.
In this article, we will be sharing with you some things you can note to take good portrait photos.
1. Use the right camera lens
As we mentioned earlier, using the right lens depends on the subject you are shooting. Depending on your distance from the subject, a lens can affect how much you are able to capture. There are two key categories of camera lenses. They are prime lenses and zoom lenses. A prime lens has a fixed focal length, so you have to move about if you want to get closer to the subject. A zoom lens, on the other hand, uses multiple lenses with varying focal lengths, allowing you to zoom in on the subject without the need to move closer.
Within these two categories, there are other sub-categories of lenses such as macro lens, telephoto lens, wide-angle lens, standard lens, and speciality lens. Hence, our first tip for helping you capture a good portrait is choosing the right camera lens. A wide-angle lens might help you capture the entire space in a single shot, but it creates a distorted stretching effect, which may not be ideal for portrait photography. Many photographers like using a 50mm or 85mm prime mid-range telephoto lens to shoot portraits. Such lenses produce an image with better compression and a softer focus. Because of its fixed focal length, it also encourages the photographer to move around and discover different angles, which brings about creative images.
2. Adjust the aperture
Aperture can be defined as one of the three fundamentals of photography, with the remaining two being ISO and shutter speed. The aperture is the opening in the lens that allows light to pass through to the camera. It functions in the same way as our eyes. When we are in a dark place, our pupils dilate, allowing as much light as possible to enter. Similarly, when we are in a bright location, we want to decrease the aperture to allow less light to enter the camera.
The lower the aperture, the more blurred the background will be, giving your shots a ‘bokeh’ effect, which is ideal for portrait photography. The higher the aperture, the sharper the overall image will be. This is ideal for photos that require focus across multiple subjects, a family portrait, for example.
3. Always shoot in RAW formats
This is the most fundamental practice in photography. If you want to take good photos, RAW is the way to shoot. Every camera has the option to shoot in either JPEG or RAW. JPEGs are stock photos shot straight out of the camera. The colour of the photos is pre-set by the camera. RAW, however, holds much more information within the image file because they have not been compressed. Hence, shooting in RAW means, you get more details which you then can work with. This then leads us to the next point: Always do post-editing.
4. Always do post-editing
You can shoot in JPEG and by no means deliver a decent portrait. However, if you really want to shoot a really amazing portrait that will wow people, then shooting RAW offers you so much more. You can post-edit a JPEG image, but you are not able to maximise the image’s potential. However, with RAW post-edits, you are able to optimise colours, saturation, hues and contrast, and exposure. The ability to enhance and retouch your photos can tip you towards the edge from being a decent portrait photographer to a really good portrait photographer. If you do not believe us, try shooting a couple of portraits in RAW and JPEG, then bring them to your editing software, and see the distinct differences.
Conclusion
Being a good portrait photographer takes lots of time and practice. However, following some of these tips might get you on the right track. Soon, you might just be on your way to becoming really good quickly.
Nevertheless, if you need a controlled environment to practice your portrait skills or you just need a space for your shooting works, then do consider Crio Collective. We offer photo studios for rent in Singapore, catering to any type of photographer. If you want to find out more about us as a creative production agency, visit our website!