Guide to good Portraits

[Angus Siew]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to appear here again. I know I've been posting a few threads recently.

Read up quite abit about Portraits too, since I'm doing one for my gf soon - Graduation day.
And we're probably heading to Bukit Timah old railway track.

So the general idea I have about portraits is to portray a good DOF by using lower apertures..

But what if the background is something interesting too? Do I use F5.6 or something to allow the background to be more distinct?

For newbie photogs like me, what would be the best advice to improve portraits? (Other than general photography knowledge like Rule of third, etc.)

Thanks in advance! (Once again :sweat

 

[DSolZ]

To me shallow dof is not always necesary. If the image is composed properly and attention is drawn towards the subject ... You probably may not need to do shadow dof. If the back ground is busy ... Distracting, that is where shadow dof comes into play to give subject isolation

 

[Ha Zu Ni Za]

It depends and I feel that a strong shallow depth of field or not is subjective. If the background is distracting then it won't bring any focus to your main subject.

Tips that would be helpful is to use smaller focus area and focus on the dominant eye (the one that is closer to you)

Also do some touching up on lightroom or photoshop. Remove unwanted spots or blemishes on the face and soften the skin. This are just some of the things that can make your portraits beautiful.

If you have strobes or speedlites, even better.

Hope the tips help in some ways.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[DSolZ]

pic not taken by me. Can see this URL for more info of the series.
http://petapixel.com/2015/07/01/a-photographers-girlfriend-leads-him-one-last-time/
Here is an example where the leading lines lead viewer to the subject head and background is rather interesting and Shadow dof is less desired.

The railway track can be use on similar manner

 

[vaevictis]

The eyes! sharp focus on the eyes is always a good tip for portraits I think

 

[SkyStrike]

If the background is interesting, you might want to consider using a wider focal length instead rather than a telephoto focal length.

 

[Angus Siew]

To me shallow dof is not always necesary. If the image is composed properly and attention is drawn towards the subject ... You probably may not need to do shadow dof. If the back ground is busy ... Distracting, that is where shadow dof comes into play to give subject isolation

Noted bro!

Thank you!!

 

[Angus Siew]

It depends and I feel that a strong shallow depth of field or not is subjective. If the background is distracting then it won't bring any focus to your main subject.

Tips that would be helpful is to use smaller focus area and focus on the dominant eye (the one that is closer to you)

Also do some touching up on lightroom or photoshop. Remove unwanted spots or blemishes on the face and soften the skin. This are just some of the things that can make your portraits beautiful.

If you have strobes or speedlites, even better.

Hope the tips help in some ways.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Okay. Will try it!

Thank you!

 

[Angus Siew]

pic not taken by me. Can see this URL for more info of the series.

Here is an example where the leading lines lead viewer to the subject head and background is rather interesting and Shadow dof is less desired.

The railway track can be use on similar manner

Hahaha. Okay. So usage of natural lines to guide to subject.

Thanks for your tips bro!

 

[Angus Siew]

The eyes! sharp focus on the eyes is always a good tip for portraits I think

Okay! Right, think I read somewhere before that it will be most capturing to really feel the subject is looking at you or something. Hahaha

Thanks!

 

[Angus Siew]

If the background is interesting, you might want to consider using a wider focal length instead rather than a telephoto focal length.

Okay! Thank you bro!