Portrait photography

[crazydadguy]

Ok, I must admit it. My portraits suck bad. I have tried and tried and they all turn out like poop. Every now and then I can get lucky with a candid, but overall, not good. Does anyone have a book recommendation to correct this?

 

[ukcatfan]

"Beyond Portraiture" by Bryan Peterson

 

[Tillikumtrainer]

Lol no one's portrait suck unless your like my dad and cut off heads and other various body parts..lol

I suggest for you to think openly, look at the person your photographing and find the feature(s) that stand out to you, certain angles can enhance those features. so shoot like there's no tomorrow with different angles. little tip, when you take a photo Hold your breath for that moment (second or two) it centers you as you take the picture.

Posing isint too hard, get the subject in a comfortable position, if its you posing for the camera: Smile softly, maybe have someone take a few pictures of you in different angles, focus on the camera and slightly move your head /body in different positions. (i was a model for a short time. I remember alittle bit) Hope that kinda helped.

 

[wenrob]

I find that there can be a number of things going wrong in my "portraits" but if the eyes are sharp, the "wrong" seems to fade into the back round. So aim for the eyes and fill the frame with your subject. My .02 for what it's worth.

 

[RCDisneyFan]

I find that there can be a number of things going wrong in my "portraits" but if the eyes are sharp, the "wrong" seems to fade into the back round. So aim for the eyes and fill the frame with your subject. My .02 for what it's worth.

Yup - that's great advice!

 

[annnewjerz]

"Beyond Portraiture" by Bryan Peterson

Not sure how much this will help with the actual posting aspect if you are actually trying to do posed portraits---but I definitely agree that you should give this book a read. I just read it in January and really enjoyed it. Gives a lot of good pointers for getting interesting portraits, using different lighting to enhance your portraits, etc.

 

[JR6ooo4]

plus I raked the yard today. I hope I can hold my arms up tomorrow, it should only be about 2-3 hours.

St. James in Arlington Heights, IL is dedicating the new parish center, prayer garden and chapel.

wish me luck. If they come out terrible, I'm sure they will build another church soon, right?

Mikeeee

 

[annnewjerz]

Good luck!! Hope everything goes well and definitely post some pics when you're done!

 

[KCmike]

We'll all say a little prayer for you.

 

[mainstreet1997]

Okay this was weird. I saw the title of this post and it peaked my interest. Weird part is, I live just down the street, in Rolling Meadows. How often do you read about things like this happening in your neighborhood.

Hope it went well despite the lovely weather we had today!

 

[mabas9395]

and I'm about 30 miles further down the street. It is a small wor.....(nope, not going to say it).

Do we get to see any samples of the portraits?

 

[MICKEY88]

I'm hoping he survived

 

[JR6ooo4]

I'm hoping he survived

Who, me or the Cardinal? I bounced the flash to be nice. Probably one hundred families or individuals. I took a portrait and close up of each.

The line was moving pretty quick and people kept asking me how to get copies of the pics, while I was trying to get shots of the next people....

I was not too happy with the mass photos. Except for this one, even though it is not that sharp. I was pretty far away. Our Father Bill is on the right, mugging for my photo. He's such a great guy.

Mikeeee

 

[MICKEY88]

Who, me or the Cardinal? I bounced the flash to be nice. Probably one hundred families or individuals. I took a portrait and close up of each.

The line was moving pretty quick and people kept asking me how to get copies of the pics, while I was trying to get shots of the next people....

I was not too happy with the mass photos. Except for this one, even though it is not that sharp. I was pretty far away. Our Father Bill is on the right, mugging for my photo. He's such a great guy.

Mikeeee

both... but mostly you, to the best of my knowledge the Cardinal never shares his pictures and photo knowledge with us..

 

[Dismom+two]

I went to a friends house to do some portrait picture of her nephew and the dog ended up stealing the photo shoot!!
I hate to say too that the dog pictures came out better then the baby's.

 

[BorisMD]

Hi all,

I have a question for you.

I'm no pro, but know my way around an f/stop, etc.

My darling wife, a middle school teacher, has, ahem, recruited me to help chaperone the middle school dance, and as a part of that, to take portraits (the kids will get a photo printed off my little Epson PictureMate for $1 -- it's a fundraiser for a school trip).

Here's what I've got for equipment:

Canon Digital Rebel XT
Nifty Fifty
24-70L 2.8
EF-S 10-22
70-200L f/4 IS
Speedlight 430EX II (w/omni diffuser)
Tripod w/ball head.
An OLD sunpak flash on a crappy old tripod with a photoelectric eye to use as a slave (might get triggered by pre-flash from the 430 if that fires).

The setting will be a generic middle school hallway outside the cafeteria.

I'm usually not a big portrait kinda photographer, but I don't mind experimenting a bit, and I'm not shy around these kids.

So, any ideas on how to maximize the setting and equipment to come up with something that doesn't look like a) a mugshot, or b) a photo from some booth at the mall?

I can grab some chairs or a table from the cafeteria if needed.

Thanks,

Boris

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

My favorite dance picture is of my man standing behind me, hands on my sholders and me sitting all girly in a chair.

heres a couple examples of ours:

This picture is a sitting one with plants for a backround (shot with a crappy camea)

Standing picture

 

[wenrob]

Do you have anything you can use as a back drop? Maybe the teachers can donate some of that huge butcher paper, it's pretty standard.(I'd choose a brown or gray personally, anything but black or white) I'd pull them away from it a few feet use a wide ap and bounce my flash behind me. I have no experience with off camera lighting so that would be my plan, lol.

 

[dmccarty]

A backdrop would be a very good idea.

I was at a trade show put on by the Professional Photographers of NC a few years ago and there were quite a few companies selling backdrops. I heard a comment near one of the backdrop booths about making the backdrops by flinging paint after having a few drinks. Some of he drops looked like they had been made that way.

Walking through the paint section at Lowes and HD over the years I have wondered how much time and money it would cost me to buy a cloth paint drop and some paint someone had mixed but did not want so I could dry my hand at making a backdrop for photography. Drinking is optional.

If I was in your shoes I think I would head to HD/Lowes and see if they have a grayish non white cloth paint cover. I know I have seen cloth paint drops at the stores. If there is not a paint drop that is photogenic some gray and blue paint slapped on the drop might be a cheap path. Look at some of backdrops on the web for inspiration.

Since you DW has set you up, err, set this up, I would try to access the school area at a time when the lighting will be the same so I could do some test shots with the flash(es) in various positions. Of course the newly made masterpiece backdrop would have to be setup as a test.

Good Luck, it sounds like fun.
Dan

 

[wenrob]

DH pointed out that you'll have the yucky yellow overhead lights so don't forget a custom white balance.