PORTRAITS: Outdoor

[KrishnenduKes]

No matter which genre of photography we get into, sooner or later we will be shooting people's faces; be it on the street, in a remote village, be it amongst friends, at a gathering, with family, at a wedding, amongst strangers, amongst dignitaries and diverse other occasions. With a little bit of an effort, desire, creativity and the want to make "them" look beautiful/striking you can come out with photographs if you start following out with some basic principles with outdoor available light.

1.Choose a good face. Choosing the right face is important. When you are out on the street and see a striking face, do not hesitate to start clicking. Get into the habit. The face should have interesting facets that appeal visually. If the subject is uncomfortable, do not hesitate either to strike a conversation and make the subject feel at ease. Keep clicking and this will eventually make the subject get at ease and you as well. If need be and the opportunity presents, go back there the next day and continue to shoot.

2.Choose a good light. We all know that the best time to shoot in a day with available sunlight is early in the morning or late afternoon when we have the slanting rays create nice hues on the face. If you do not necessarily manage to get that light, and you are stuck in the bylanes of Old Delhi, you still might manage to get uniform diffused light on your subject.

3.Choose a good long lens: 85mm is the very minimum that one should be using for 35mm format photography. If you are confident and do have the space, do not hesitate to use 200mm either. I advise not to use wide angles in close quarters to a face unless you are absolutely sure about the results you are going to achieve. A short focal length will abnormally highlight cheekbones, nose bridge.

4.Choose a good even background (non distracting): Try to set your portrait against an even uncluttered background which will help in accentuating your subject. Try to see that the apparel used by your subject does not match that of the background.

5. Choosing the right aperture: Once you have chosen the appropriate background, open your aperture sufficiently to blur it out and bringing your subject into clear focus. This is ofcourse particularly true for long focal length lens portraits.

These are basic tips. Once adept with basic techniques, one can start deviating and experimenting with other media, like using experimental background, wide angle lenses and so on...

A few humble examples from my side:
http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/IMG_4987_copy.jpg
I chose this face that told me a hundred stories.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/F1000011copy.jpg
The positionning of the subject against the blurred and washed out background despite the harsh light that I was getting.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/MG_4735_copy.jpg
Keep clicking till you get that magical moment that stays with you! That magical moment can be a whiff of breeze.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/MG_0807_copy.jpg
Choosing the right light is important as you see here as well as the right face.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/IMG_4999_copy.jpg
An example of getting a powerful expression. Which is what we are actually looking for...

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/IMG_4313_copy.jpg
See how good light can be inspiring.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/Princess.jpg

And needless to say, the smile is the most powerful of all human emotions.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/Ma_l.jpg

This is just a small attempt in trying to begin a very difficult and vast subject of shooting portraits. Based on the simple principles given above we can begin our portrait shots in almost any situation outdoors. All corrections and criticisms on the above principles are welcome with examples.

Edit: All Exif Info is available on the Photographer Gallery under KrishnenduKes.

[Sarao]

Excellent shots Sir

[powerslave]

I like the last one the best!

[nelson_sanjoy]

Going by the book - taking portraits require obeying some rules .Obviously one of them is the rule of thirds .
But again I have seen lot of people taking wonderful portraits disobeying them too . But I think as a learner its better to know and follow the rules initially...

Just sharing a recent read ...
< click here > (http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/10-ways-to-take-stunning-portraits/?awt_l=9c5RG&awt_m=1jz_aGPlqrkfGf)

And some pros sites:
Karen Leslie (http://www.karenleslie.com/blog/2008/11/08/fun-family/)

Barbara (http://www.barbaraglaeserphoto.com/index2.html)

And a portrait from my side :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelson_sanjoy/3107107831/

[KrishnenduKes]

Just sharing a recent read ...
< click here > (http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/10-ways-to-take-stunning-portraits/?awt_l=9c5RG&awt_m=1jz_aGPlqrkfGf)

And some pros sites:
Karen Leslie (http://www.karenleslie.com/blog/2008/11/08/fun-family/)

Barbara (http://www.barbaraglaeserphoto.com/index2.html)


Thanks a ton Nelson for the nice links. As and when this thread moves along, I along with others will be moving on as well with further constructive elements.

[Sunny]

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/IMG_4987_copy.jpg

The first one could have been pretty good, I would have loved a much tighter shot to bring out the lines on the face. I think you have one, or even if you dont then cropping it would do it a world of good. The left overexposed part is just taking the sheen away from the rest of it.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/F1000011copy.jpg

The second one (lady on a beach) could have been better composed and certainly better post processed. I would like to remind you Ken, not using PP does not make for a better photographer these days, it just makes for an ignorant one. Try opening the same image you have posted and do a Image--> Auto levels and see the world of difference it makes. Hope you will apply PP to images rather than just HDRs.


http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/MG_4735_copy.jpg

Underexposed face, all the focus is on the white shirt. The top left bright sky is also a pain in the photo. Such small things finally add up to a great photo, remember you can always crop and PP after you have shot. Refer my previous comment.


http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/MG_0807_copy.jpg
Nice one for an uncontrolled emotion.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/IMG_4999_copy.jpg
We all had time to remove that blurred foreground object in the lower part of the image, didnt we?


http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/IMG_4313_copy.jpg

Again, the photo suffers from PP (try it). The lights is very good. The direction of eyes makes you want to think what is on the left side of the frame. Good one.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/Princess.jpg
Good moment, very bad background. Changing angles would have helped this stuck in between image a lot.

http://www.thephotographer.in/galleries/data/500/medium/Ma_l.jpg

Good one, albeit a little underexposed for my liking.

[KrishnenduKes]

@Sunny (and Others): I really know Zilch about post processing. If someone could give some detailled explanations, it might help my world.

[bhatiaj]

@Sunny (and Others): I really know Zilch about post processing. If someone could give some detailled explanations, it might help my world.

Even i am in the same boat as you as far post processing is considered, some help would be greatly appreciated.

[Bibudesh]

@Sunny (and Others): I really know Zilch about post processing. If someone could give some detailled explanations, it might help my world.

its not as hi-fi as u may think. I was like u a month , but now I know there is no escape from PP.
Even m also learning, so learn from a learner.

As the underexposure is concerned, open the image in PP.
Goto Layer>duplicate layer. This will create a duplicate layer over the base foto (to avoid disasters).
Now goto Adjust>curve and play with it.

Say if u want to adjust the face tone, click on the underexposed part on the face (curve window being opened), clicking on the face u will notice a small blink on the curve. Thats a hint , adjust the curve slowly from that point and see the effect.

@experts- correct me if I am wrong

[Sunny]

Ken, if you could learn HDR and photomatix in a day I am sure for someone in photography for 10+ years PP will not be a problem. Although since you asked i will pen down something but only after 21st January (you know why). I have been telling you since two years to get acquainted with PS now! :D