How To Capture Your Perfect Portrait Photograph

Posted by | Posted on 12:14 AM

By Karl Stevens

Faces of people have been captured in many famous photographs for decades. However, portrait photography is not as simple as clicking a button on the camera; instead it is about bringing one person or a group of persons come alive in a picture by showing them in their true form.

A good portrait photograph achieves a non-conventional aspect by capturing the subject from a unique camera angle and in a mental state that is representative of the subject. However, photographs of one person or of whole families are also taken by photographers, and these are usually preserved in family albums.

A ideal close up with a sharp focus on the person's face is what gives portrait images that touch of class. This can be achieved by making use of a setting in the camera that makes the background slightly hazy and faint so as to make the face look more in focus. A wider aperture used in a camera can give ideal results for this purpose. Whereas, when both the individual and the background are important, like a photograph taken with the subject in a scenic landscape, then a normal aperture is more appropriate.

Photography is all about falling of light into the photographic medium; thus insufficient light has always been a photographer's cause of concern. However, by adhering to some common photography guidelines, a good portrait photograph can be obtained. 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 normally ends up looking wonderful. A reflective surface can be used to highlight the other side of the person's face. However, However, portrait photographs taken in studios under artificial lighting mostly come out better than those shot in natural light.

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

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