If you want to do a great portrait, you must be concerned with composition, lighting and other technicalities. I hope you will be able to do a great portrait photography with these tips;
Pose from the Ground Up
Be it a headshot, partial or full-body, a good portrait pose starts with the feet. In other words, the rest of the structure goes out-of-whack, if the feet and legs of your subject is not set in the right way. As a rule of thumb, have your subject place their weight right on their weight on the rear leg and turn 3/4 from the position of the camera. In addition, allow your subjects flare their elbows away from the body a little to thin-out their silhouette.
Remember the Hands
Even if you adjust your lighting, squaring up the hands to the in portrait photography presents a flat slab of meat to the camera. If the photo is all about the hands, squaring them is not interesting. Your female client will appreciate it when you present more of the edge of the hand and use angles to make them pleasant.
Rembrandt it Out, When in Doubt
Whenever you are not sure of what you have done, then Rembrandt it out high and 45 lighting as it had worked for a lot of people. All you need to do is to put the lighting at the angle of 45 degree to the subject on both vertical and horizontal planes. Learn this technique well with a variety of modifiers in order for you to achieve a classic look within a twinkle of an eye with a single light, constant, flash or window.
Portrait photography or the so called environmental portrait is all about the subject. A distracting background element is a capital NO as far as portraiture is concerned because it always draws away the eyes from your subject. The human eye is attracted to text, bright colors and human-like shapes. Instead of allowing them to decrease your DoF, it is better to retouch them out or keep them out of the frame. On the other hand, don’t allow trees, poles and the like growing out of the head of your subject. This will defeat that 3D feel.
Seek Some Assistance
For portrait photography that needs more logistics or gear, you should learn how to get some help. It will be beneficial to just have someone hold a reflector or the light stand in place on a windy day or keep track of the names of people you are shooting. If you don’t have to worry about a lot of other little things, you can concentrate on your expertise better.
Have a Personality
You are not going to get anyone enthusiastic about the session, particularly if the subject or client doesn’t care or understand much about your craft or why they are spending money and time on it, if you have a personality of a house plant. Furthermore, when the time comes, you will not get the cooperation and expressions you will need. To gain more personality for your portrait photography, be emphatic, friendly and purposeful.
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