how to shoot better portraitShooting portraits is absolutely enjoyable for photographers, whether you are shooting your friends, family or even stranger. Sometimes, this style of photographing can be difficult for amateurs as they always try to over-complicate their photoes. So here is my tips and techniques, which might help you get the best from your portrait.

Background

You should use a plain or simple background for your portraits. In other words, you can shoot better portraits if you have less distraction from your model. I understand that sometimes there’re immovable objects in the scene. So, if you can’t really move them away, then you could try using camera with a long lens and try to open the aperture a little wider to move them out of focus.

Exposure

You should be very familiar with the exposure modes of your camera. In the event of the dark or shady moment, you could use a spot meter-reading from the face of your model as it can help you get correct exposure on the model’s face, the most significant area of the image. You can also use reflector to make your model’s face brighter.

Composition

You should ensure about you use the right composition for your portraits. Sometimes, you model may look small if you shoot too high. On the other hand, your model may look tall if you shoot too low. The best advice I can give is you should not stick with any rules. Remember that creativity is the most important thing for portrait shooting.

Pose

No matter how nice your scene, background or composition is, your photo will never be good if your model doesn’t how to pose. Also, if your model starts to feel awkward or not comfortable with the pose, this will likely destroy your photo. So, your job as a photographer is to make your model more relaxed. Maybe, it is better to talk with your model more often as this will make her feel comfortable.

Colour

Like I mentioned in background, you shouldn’t include too much colour in your scene as it will distract the attention away from your model. Ensure that you use only few colours, maybe two or three, in the scene to make your shooting frame outstanding.

Lens

There’re many good lenses for portrait shooting but here I’d like to suggest two lenses, 24-105 mm lens and 70-200 mm lens. For the low-to-middle zoom range, the 24-105 mm lens is recommended because you can shoot with a wide angle and you can also make your model stand out by making background out of focus. The 70-200 mm lens, on the other hand, give you more options for long distance shooting and can provide a great depth of field to your photo.

Others

There’re some other tips for taking portraits. Before shooting, your image quality should be set at uncompressed or RAW. This will give larger size and allow you to work with your photo later with some computer programs such as Photoshop. Also, you should know your camera gears really well including functions in your camera and lens. Finally, you should be relaxed and have fun with your shooting. Remember that you will never shoot great photos unless you enjoy doing it.