“Portraits”- A Soulful Expression- Get Them Right, Make Them Expressive!!

“Portrait” is a photographer’s way of capturing the essence of his subject through his lens and portraying it in the most expressive manner. Even a simple portrait can look great when taken naturally with a few helpful tips!!

Explore the possibilities to capture some really expressive portraits by letting yourself free of any standard techniques.

1. Natural Environment

Try to keep the subject in its natural form as much as you can rather than arranging a shoot in an artificial setup. Remember, not everyone is a model and don’t expect everyone to be as camera friendly. Some people do get nervous facing the camera, which is but natural so let them be, make them feel comfortable which sure will yield great results. This also greatly applies when you shoot children who are sure to give you a tough time trying to shoot them. Try and let them be as they are and cover them in their native form, which will make your shoot not only exciting but also less troublesome.

2. Natural Light

Nothing can beat or replace the natural light and especially when you shoot portraits as light is a major ingredient to bring out the best in a portrait. Learn to play with the natural light adjusting your angles with the subject. Try keeping your ISO lower if you are shooting in bright light environment and remember, a higher ISO setting will yield an output too grainy & noisy so try and maintain the ISO at lower or a little higher settings to avoid getting a grainy your picture.

The best part about utilizing the natural light is that you don’t need to invest in a studio setting and get the best results at a much lower cost!

3. Understand your subject:

Your subject is as important as your gear is. You need to understand your subject well before you start shooting as this will help you prepare yourself to shoot with the correct angles and positions to bring out the best of your subject. The height, weight, skin tone, hair etc. do have an impact on the pictures you wish to capture as you need to align all these factors appropriately to get the best results. For example, you wouldn’t want to shoot someone shorter than you from the top or visa versa. This might make the subject look gigantic or too little in size and shape. Or if you choose to get a closer headshot, mind the face structure as you don’t want the subject to look too pale or plump in the face

4. Break the rules

Remember, your vision cannot be duplicated, which clearly means that others cannot see the subject the way you may so try your angles, go with the flow with your subjects. You don’t really need to make your subject sit straight, look this way, that way or smile this way n that way. You may let them be and get your best shots by adjusting and rearranging yourself instead. This way you will not only make your subject feel comfy but also make them give you the best shots you aim for in their natural mood and attitude.

5. Place your subject right

This doesn’t mean you need to place your subject right in the center of the frame. Remember, you are not clicking a passport picture. You need to break the norm for your subject by showing them how beautiful they are naturally. Try getting the frame setting as natural as it can get by placing the subject maybe on the right or left or a little higher or lower within the frame. This will not only uplift the picture but also will seem fresh and beautiful at all times

Tips by Moeed Mohammed

In a nutshell, try being natural and don’t feel shy to try, you’ll make the best of it and get the best results desired!
Hope the tips are of help and will share more on other relevant topics soon.

Thanks for paying attention.

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