There are a lot of genres and paths to take when it comes to photography. Others might want to take pictures of landscapes and nature, while other’s want to go with something more abstract and artsy. However one of the most popular genres in photography would be portrait photography. With this genre, you are photographing people and faces. And just like any type of photography, you don’t get good at it overnight. There are a lot of ways for you to improve your portrait photography. Some even find that portrait photography can be a very lucrative business as well. To get you started on your way to portrait photography, here are a few helpful tips.
Know your gear
Of course, you are going to need to learn the basics of what your camera does for before you start shooting your photos. Not just in portrait photography but also with any photography, you need to know all the functions of the camera you’re using to use it effectively. Read the user manual, research on the internet, and just play around with your camera to familiarize yourself with the many features it has to shoot better.
Understanding light
Photography is all about the light and this is of utmost importance with portrait photography. You need to know how, when, and where the light would hit your subject and should know how to strike a balance and get a well-lit shout that would give you a great picture. You can either use natural or ambient light or use a flash or strobe lights to avoid having flat photos.
Following and breaking the rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is a very good guideline for your composition. You need to know how to place your subject in your frame to avoid getting a lousy and flat photo. As with all rules in photography, you should also be able to learn how to break the rule when the situation calls for it. Sometimes this can result to a gorgeous photo that you would have never expected.
Practice
Being an expert in portrait photography does not come overnight. As with anything, you need practice to properly hone your portrait photography skills. With constant practice and research, you are able to attain this. And who knows, maybe you can even get to convert this hobby in to a very lucrative business. So keep on burning that shutter.
One topic that most beginning photographers have a hard time in learning is the composition of their shots. Though portrait photography sets faces and people as subjects, a good deal of composition is still needed in order to get a great shot. But what do you need to do to incorporate good composition in your portrait photography? The answer is the rule of thirds. This is one of the most useful techniques in composition and is used widely in different fields of photography. By following the rule of thirds, you can create a more balanced image in each shot that you take.
Essentially, the rule of thirds is a way of mentally dividing the frame of your picture with 2 horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines. You position your subject and other important elements of your pictures along the lines of the grid or on the points where the lines intersect.
To use the rule of thirds effectively, picture the scene and see which elements are important to the scene. Try to line them up along or near the lines and points of the grid and make sure that the scene is well balanced. Some cameras even have a setting where you can see the rule of thirds grid in the view finder. This will surely help you get a well-balanced and dramatic shot.
You can also practice artistic shots with the rule of thirds by using negative space creatively. You can use it when taking pictures of a subject with a bland background. Instead of putting the subject dead centre, try putting it off centre to make use of the negative space as something to balance the whole picture. This can create a whole new level with your portrait photography.
Generally the idea of the rule of thirds is that off centred photos look better with subjects that are dead centre. Try experimenting on the rule of thirds to see which would work best with your portrait photography.
So you decided to get in to photography and you are headed towards the black and white style of photographing things. Although it may seem easy to just convert any photo you have taken in to greyscale, it’s not going to look its best all the time. There are a lot of ways for you to get your black and white photography up to speed. Perhaps the best way for you to get stunning black and white images is to use colored filters to improve the blacks and grays of your black and white photography.
There are mainly five coloured filters that photographers use in black and white photography. These are red, orange, yellow, green and blue. These filters help correct the common problems in black and white photography such as flat pictures due to some colours looking very similar with each other when converted to greyscale. With coloured filters, you can control how the final image would look like since each filter would affect how the colours of the picture would turn out when converted to greyscale. This would ensure that objects in the picture are clearly defined and separated.
Each coloured filter is used in different ways due to their different effects. A red coloured filter can produce really strong black and white images that have really strong contrast. Although some consider this filter a bit too harsh, it can produce some dramatic images when used properly. In a landscape photo, a red filter can really darken blue skies and let the clouds stand out which makes for a very dramatic black and white photography.
Orange filters are a mix between red and yellow filters. The balance it gets out of the red and yellow filters makes this a very popular all-purpose filter for black and white photography.
Yellow filters give the most subtle effect. Not really used for extensive black and white photography due to its subtle effects on colour to greyscale conversion, but it helps to lift flat photo’s just enough.
Green filters aren’t as popular as the other filters, but these filters help out in some cases such as photographing foliage and plants. This helps separate the foliage from the bright coloured plants that you are photographing.
Blue filters are not really used in black and white photography that often due to its effects of darkening almost all colours and reducing the contrast. However if used correctly; blue filters can make really good shots that display a calm and soothing atmosphere.
If you really want to get serious with black and white photography, getting a selection of these colour filters just might help you to get your black and white photography to a higher level.
Best Pro Photography Tips 