Best Friends

A portrait is a picture taken of a person or small group focusing on their face or expression while they are in a still position, also known as portraiture. This is to display the personality, mood and the likeness of the person or group. You can also include the whole body and background in portrait photography as well. When taking a portrait photo the person or group is generally looking strait at the camera.

Non-professional models are used for portrait photography, unlike other styles of photography. Graduations, special events and weddings are types of occasions where portrait photography is used, and later displayed in private homes. Many are done on studio with several backgrounds to choose from.

History of Portrait Photography

Ever since the camera was invented people have been using portrait photography. It was, and is more inexpensive way then having your portrait painted and it is a more available method. Natural light was used from an open window and people would sit against the background. With technology evolving photographers have the ability to take pictures with less exposure time giving them more freedom to move around and create new styles of portrait photography.

Methods of Light

A professional photographer has complete control over the lighting when taking portrait photographs in a studio. They can change the direction and the intensity. Kicker lights, fill lights, background lights and the main lights are a few of the different lighting terms.

The most important light source is obviously referred to the main light. It is usually at a 45 degree angle of the subject but it can also be positioned above or below as well.The main light can create shadows so the fill light helps to eliminate them. The kicker light is the light that brightens up the hair of a subject. This will help to add depth and to show the separation from the subject and the background. A Background light brightens the background and can add effects to the backdrops.

Individuals have been the subject of several prize-winning photographs from time to time. Portrait photography prioritizes on not just the subjects but on their personalities as well, thereby bringing the captured frames to life.

A good portrait photograph attains a non-conventional look by capturing the subject from a unique camera angle and in a mood that is representative of the subject. However, more conventional family or one-person portraits are also clicked and they are appropriate for family albums.

A ideal close up with a clear focus on the subject’s face is what gives portrait images that discernible mark of elegance. This can be done by tuning camera settings to blur the person’s background so that his or her face receives the maximum focus. A camera with a broader aperture can strike this ideal balance between the background and the foreground image. Whereas, when both the subject and the background are equally significant, like a photograph taken with the subject in a beautiful landscape, then a normal aperture is advisable.

Photography is all about absorption of light into the photographic medium; thus inadequate light has always been a photographer’s cause of worry. But an impressive portrait photograph is easier to click if certain basic rules are followed. If the subject is made to sit by a window in a position in which the sun’s rays fall only partly on the face, then the photograph generally ends up looking wonderful. A reflective surface can be employed to light up the other side of the individual’s face. However, However, portrait photographs taken in studios under artificial lighting usually come out better than those clicked in natural light.

The last but probably the most important feature of portrait photography is to ensure that the subject feels at home. The human element in photography is so vital that all technical details will fail to make it a good portrait if the person posing for the picture is stiff and uncomfortable before the camera.