WORK WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
Put the pieces together and match your subject with the ideal setting conditions
Shooting outdoor portraits is not just a practical decision, done for the convenience of natural light. A studio is a great creative space, but it does not offer the opportunities for storytelling that external environments do. Studio lighting and backgrounds are highly standardised which are not inherently the most exciting or engaging picture elements. Taking the subject on-location gives you the freedom to use features of a landscape to your advantage, furthering a narrative about the subject themselves, or providing a neutral-yetexciting background. A diffused view of trees or colourful flowers is far more immersive than a seamless background.
To take full advantage of these artistic aspects we need to think about how our subject will fit into the background in terms of tone and compositional placement. As with any narrative we need to imagine continuity – the shot needs to make sense, with a logical pairing of subject and backdrop. Simply taking the subject outside is not enough – it’s critical to plan your shots and choose a location to better push a colour theme, or textural setup. For example, if your subject is wearing delicate clothing it makes little sense to place them against a gritty, urban setting, unless this is an expressly intentional juxtaposition.
While it is good to break moulds, defy conventions and question stereotypes, we need to make our intentions clear.
It’s important to make our vision easily identifiable, otherwise an image can be distracting and confusing.
The way in which our subject interacts with their background is also a point of analysis.
In a studio setting the common approach is to place the person against a backdrop, removing a sense of depth. If we migrate this into the field we will miss an opportunity to complexify the scene in a natural way. Look to alter your angle and overlap elements of the environment, with the subject themselves. Consider ways in which to make the shot look less like it was taken on a pre-planned photoshoot and more like a spontaneous study of a moment or emotion.