Portrait tips and tricks
Paul Wilkinson’s Top 25...
Taking perfect portraits can be hard work and there’s so much information out there, but pro photographer Paul Wilkinson guides us through this huge genre with his pearls of wisdom
The broad range of talents you need for portrait photography makes it incredibly appealing – part artist, part physicist, part counsellor, part clown; it is indeed multi-faceted. Every person’s face is different, so uniqueness is almost guaranteed each time you create a portrait. However, there are still skills and ideas you can bring to bear when working with your subject, from getting the best out of natural light to creating tension in the design of the image and knowing when to release the shutter.
In this feature, I’ve outlined some of the ideas that have worked for me over the years and could very well work for you as well. I have broken them into sections for clarity, but, honestly, they are a mishmash of many influences and millions of images. Let’s get started!