Portraiture, what's the key.

thebigsky

It strikes me that successful portraiture is one of the hardest aspects of photography to master, are there any general rules to adhere to such as best aspect, angles, lighting etc?

LeDude

thebigsky wrote:

It strikes me that succesful portraiture is one of the hardest aspects of photography to master, are there any general rules to adhere to such as best aspect, angles, lighting etc?

I'm trying to learn this myself, and from what I've gathered at DGrin... here are *some* rules of thumb:

*Eyes in Focus: sometimes everything will be in focus, but always have at least the eyes tack sharp
*Rule of thirds (eyes falling on top third line) is often best
*Natural Light is Optimal. Head-on light is generally not good (fill flash via bounce card, okay).
*Smooth skin is flattering. Rough skin has character.
*A slight bent toward Magenta lends to better skin color (only on caucasians?). Green hues lead to a sickly look.

I am looking forward to subsequent replies.

Antonio Correia

Hey LeDude !...
How are you ?
Nice advices you gave ...
The eyes sharp, the rule ...
thumb

pathfinder

You can't go wrong with the light that has served painters for centuries - soft diffuse north window light, the light of the masters. The window gives directionality to the light, as opposed to just shooting in shade with skylight.

A reflector can be used to lighten the shadows on the non-lit side of the face.

The modern version is a large soft box at about eye level or slightly above with a soft reflector opposite.

This is a shot of my grandfather, shot sometime prior to WWI, and the photographer chose soft, diffuse light from the right - like window light.



And here is a nephew of mine shot by window light - a small reflector to the right might have softened the shadows on his face slightly



Not the only way, of course, but simple, easy, effective, available, and easy to improve on with reflectors, fill flash, hair lights, etc.

thebigsky

Thanks LeDude. that's a great start, I think I remember reading that the most flattering angle is slightly above eye level looking down a little on the subject, have you heard this?

thebigsky

Excellent pictures, Pathfinder, you have to love those old portraits. That's interesting about the north facing window, at what angle to the window would you place the subject?

LeDude

thebigsky wrote:

Thanks LeDude. that's a great start, I think I remember reading that the most flattering angle is slightly above eye level looking down a little on the subject, have you heard this?

Sounds familiar, but I would say it depends on the subject. Particularly, the subject's jaw line and the strength of their chin. A downward angle would weaken/de-emphasize these (better for women, generally? - maybe this is sexist ) and an upward angle would strengthen/empasize (better for men, generally?).

Of course, one could also take note of the great film directors... using a pronounced low angle shot will create a more imposing subject, make them taller, etc. And, if the subject tilts there head down to match the angle and a greater portion of the body is in frame... well, this is combining techniques and probably more advanced than is appropriate for a rule-of-thumb list.

Antonio Correia

1
I would like to say somethings here.
Not only good examples of shots should be shown. We all learn by the error.
The shot I post here was done near a window without flash.

Antonio Correia

The pic now shown was done with the flash.
Bounced.
I mension this because I am trying to shoot with the flash and the results seem very good.
See how the shadows were filled ?

Antonio Correia

And here is the same shot photoshoped.
What a difference...
Conclusion: sometimes the fill flash bounced works fine.

Antonio Correia

Something similar happened here with an advantage: The light points in the eyes...
I am sorry about the lamp back there but I do not know how to remove ...

Antonio Correia

Here
http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/gallery/938400/3/69902288
I used the rule of thirds. I had to cut the head. I do not like it that much ...

Antonio Correia

Links

http://photoinf.com/General/NAVY/Subject_and_Rule_of_Thirds.htm
http://www.photo.net/learn/portraits/

Shay Stephens

Capture the soul, not just the shell.
I find the trick to a great portrait is less technical and more personality related. A great portrait does not result from perfect lighting, composition, or lens settings. A great portrait reveals the subjects personality, shows them in a novel way, and/or moves the viewer to regard the subject in a way they have never noticed before. Capture with your camera the serious side of the joker, the anticipation of one about to journey, the real smile and inner joy of anyone who will give it to you. There are a lot of ways to portray someone, and a great portrait can result from any of them.

Spend time with the subject, time with the lens pointed at them, engage them, draw out the personality and be ready to catch it when it shows up. When the viewer of the portrait can look and see the personality as if they knew that person, you have done your job well, regardless of the quality of that photo. Such a photo will be treasured, flaws and all.

Antonio Correia

Shay Stephens wrote:

I find the trick to a great portrait is less technical and more personality related. A great portrait does not result from perfect lighting, composition, or lens settings. A great portrait reveals the subjects personality, shows them in a novel way, and/or moves the viewer to regard the subject in a way they have never noticed before. Capture with your camera the serious side of the joker, the anticipation of one about to journey, the real smile and inner joy of anyone who will give it to you. There are a lot of ways to portray someone, and a great portrait can result from any of them.

Spend time with the subject, time with the lens pointed at them, engage them, draw out the personality and be ready to catch it when it shows up. When the viewer of the portrait can look and see the personality as if they knew that person, you have done your job well, regardless of the quality of that photo. Such a photo will be treasured, flaws and all.

It's not an easy matter ...

Steve Cavigliano

Shay Stephens wrote:

I find the trick to a great portrait is less technical and more personality related. A great portrait does not result from perfect lighting, composition, or lens settings. A great portrait reveals the subjects personality, shows them in a novel way, and/or moves the viewer to regard the subject in a way they have never noticed before. Capture with your camera the serious side of the joker, the anticipation of one about to journey, the real smile and inner joy of anyone who will give it to you. There are a lot of ways to portray someone, and a great portrait can result from any of them.

Spend time with the subject, time with the lens pointed at them, engage them, draw out the personality and be ready to catch it when it shows up. When the viewer of the portrait can look and see the personality as if they knew that person, you have done your job well, regardless of the quality of that photo. Such a photo will be treasured, flaws and all.

Deep, deep stuff Shay. You have made clear, in a couple of paragraphs, what others have devoted book's worth of material trying to explain The really deep part of your message (and the part that struck a chord) is that your "process" isn't only pertainent to portraiture. Since most subjects we shoot have "personality", it only makes sense to take the same thought process with you when shooting landscapes, wildlife, or whatever

Outstanding post!!

Steve

DavidS

Antonio Correia wrote:

And here is the same shot photoshoped.
What a difference...
Conclusion: sometimes the fill flash bounced works fine.

Wow! I am amazed at what you did with that shot in Photoshop. I thought for sure it was hopelessly washed out. I have a lot to learn.

mercphoto

Shay Stephens wrote:

I find the trick to a great portrait is less technical and more personality related. A great portrait does not result from perfect lighting, composition, or lens settings. A great portrait reveals the subjects personality, shows them in a novel way, and/or moves the viewer to regard the subject in a way they have never noticed before.

This is really good. Its also why I'm not all that good at portraits. I'm not really enough of a people person. I'm not all that good at reading a person, getting to know them quickly, and finding a setting and a pose to bring out something inside them.

Other things that I have learned about portraits though. Don't fear the shadows. They should not be severe, but shadows on a face due to side lighting are what gives depth and texture, three dimensions so to speak. Lighting from the front, even bounced, tends to flatten the image simply because there are no shadows. Shadows and highlights are what give our visual system clues to texture. Another thing is to always be able to see both eyes. If the head is turned you want to at least see the eye lashes on the hidden eye. Otherwise you get a cyclopse. The exception to this rule is an exact profile.

saurora

mercphoto wrote:

This is really good. Its also why I'm not all that good at portraits. I'm not really enough of a people person. I'm not all that good at reading a person, getting to know them quickly, and finding a setting and a pose to bring out something inside them.

I think it is difficult to take good portraiture if you are uncomfortable with people. If you are uncomfortable, it is going to be difficult to relax your subject and get a natural pose. I would begin by shooting more environmental portraits. Taking shots either outdoors or in a person's work, hobby, or sport environment will make the subject feel more at ease and perhaps make it easier for you. I prefer shooting children outdoors. First of all, children are a great subject to start with. They are naturally uninhibited. Take a child to a park and they forget you even have a camera trained on them. Plus you are able to use natural light if you don't have a studio light setup. These 2 shots were not posed by me....the child in each shot "posed" themselves.

illuminati919

The main problem I have with portrait shooting is focusing the eys, does anybody have a technique or tips ?

Maybe its my lens, cheap 28-80mm, I'm gettin a 50mm f/1.4 soon, will the 50 help get them in focus ?

Marko Knezevic

thebigsky

I use the 50mm 1.4 and it's a great lens, you can be really creative with that limited DOF, however at 1.4 the DOF is so shallow that even when the subject's head is turned slightly from the camera you can only get one eye in focus.

Once I coupled it with the 5D I was able to crank up the ISO to over 400, move to a smaller aperture with more DOF and ensure in-focus eyes.

Jnichols

Shay Stephens wrote:

I find the trick to a great portrait is less technical and more personality related. A great portrait does not result from perfect lighting, composition, or lens settings. A great portrait reveals the subjects personality, shows them in a novel way, and/or moves the viewer to regard the subject in a way they have never noticed before. Capture with your camera the serious side of the joker, the anticipation of one about to journey, the real smile and inner joy of anyone who will give it to you. There are a lot of ways to portray someone, and a great portrait can result from any of them.

Spend time with the subject, time with the lens pointed at them, engage them, draw out the personality and be ready to catch it when it shows up. When the viewer of the portrait can look and see the personality as if they knew that person, you have done your job well, regardless of the quality of that photo. Such a photo will be treasured, flaws and all.

I try to catch any show pertinent to photography and the interaction of the photographer with the subject - I even watch America's Top Model, when I get the chance, to get the interaction of the photographer with the models (it's very hard to capture with all the drama inbetween!). But I come away with the understanding that it's not all about the technical aspects of the shot - it's about catching their personality and the "beauty within". I see it in various photographers work - such as yours and Yuri's but I think it will take some time. Personally, I need to get more comfortable with my camera so I can be comfortable in front of my subject! That's my goal!!

mercphoto

This talk of portrait techniques, rules of thirds, shadows and highlights, etc. makes me wonder about something. It is farily typical to see head-shots where the top of the head is cropped off. Strangely its pleasing. Is this simply because it puts the eyes on the top third line, rather than dead-center?

geibphot

mercphoto wrote:

This talk of portrait techniques, rules of thirds, shadows and highlights, etc. makes me wonder about something. It is farily typical to see head-shots where the top of the head is cropped off. Strangely its pleasing. Is this simply because it puts the eyes on the top third line, rather than dead-center?

I like the cut off top of the head for somethings, but not others... I think it depends on how much of the body you're going to show. I also agree with one of the previous posters that women generally photograph better from slightly above. For me anyway it's all about delivering a product your clients love.


Here's an example of a shot that has both the “from above” and top cut off issues incorporated... I think this was with a 24-70 2.8L @ 52mm f5.6 1/200 ISO200. Main light was a north facing full glass door at a church, fill side was lit with a plain old piece of white foam core board off the frame to the left. Not saying this is a good shot, as I'm sure any master would crucify it, but it showed the two previous issues discussed.

thebigsky

Well, taking all the contributions thus far into account, and not wishing to subject anyone else to my amateurish fumblings I've taken a self portrait (stop sniggering at the back.)

I'd asked my wife what some of the personality traits were she associated with me and amongst those she mentioned was my obsession with news and current affairs, hence the newspaper.

I'd appreciate a 'Whiplight' as I don't feel ready to post in the Whipping Post having just started on this road.

Shay Stephens

thebigsky wrote:

I'd appreciate a 'Whiplight' as I don't feel ready to post in the Whipping Post having just started on this road.

You got it!!! I love it.

thebigsky

Shay Stephens wrote:

You got it!!! I love it.

Thanks Shay, looking at your portfolio I have to take that as a great compliment, you've taken some wonderful pictures. Of course photographing other people, that's a whole different story...

thebigsky

That's a lovely picture Geibphot, it's interesting that even after you've captured a great image, you the have to worry about the cropping as well!

Khaos

As usual, Shay offers great advice in the most succinct way. Shay, you really should consider writing a book.

I use the lighting for effect as well as the "candid" to capture the personality. I truly hate posed shots unless something creative is being done. I think capturing people acting as themselves creates great portraits.

Here are shots using lighting as a tool.







Then the ones that capture people "in the moment." You just sit and wait and get them doing the ordinary but also what gives a glimpse into who they are.











And finally, I like sometimes to fill up the shot. You are shooting a person. Make them the full shot. Don't be afraid to cut off chins and foreheads as long as you get the person and an emotion coming through.

Antonio Correia

Congratulations.
You have done a very good work on these photos.
Myself, I like all of them.
Shay is good friend of us. :

Antonio Correia

DavidS wrote:

...I have a lot to learn.

And so do I ...