PORTRAIT TIPS

Think about the environment

Backlight the subject

Backlighting is a great mood-setter: it lifts the edges of the subject while keeping the rest of them dark and moody. It’s great for a side-on shot like this. To create backlighting, simply position the light source (flash or natural ) behind the subject and to the side.

Show the details

Sometimes hands can tell the story better than a full portrait, especially in environments where the hands play an important part in the work. Look for those closer details that help to tell the story. These kinds of shots work well in a collage with your main portrait.

Frame two people

Why not try framing up several people in the same shot? Here we’ve used the same cross-lighting setup as our opening portrait, but this time we’ve switched positions so the lights are to the back left and right of the scene. The result is atmospheric edge lighting.

Find the light

If you don’t want to use flash, find the best light for your shot. Positioning subjects close to windows or open doorways is a good place to start. Experiment with angles so the light from the window falls directionally across your subject: this usually looks more interesting.

Darken the backdrop

Context is good, but we don’t want to overwhelm our frame with too much detail. With a single Speedlight set to overpower the ambient light, we can minimize clutter by changing the ratio of light in the scene, so that the backdrop becomes darker and the subject stands out.

Keep it simple

There’s often a pressure to come up with a perfect composition immediately, but more often than not this is a process of trial and error. It can sometimes help to spend time shooting empty scenes while visualizing where your subject will stand. If in doubt, keep it simple!