Portraits and Self Portraits Preview - Planning

Best Tips:

Shoot Candidly- Sometimes posed shots can look somewhat...posed. Some people don't look good in a posed environment and so switching to a candid type approach can work. Photograph your subject at work, with family or doing something that they love. This will put them more at ease and you can end up getting some special shots with them reacting naturally to the situation that they are in. You might even want to grab a longer zoom lens to take you out of their immediate zone and get really paparazzi with them. I can find that this can particularly work when photographing children.

Movement- Portraits can be so static- but what if you added some movement into them? This can be achieved in a few ways:
- by making your subject move
- by keeping your subject still but having an element in the scene around them move
- by moving your camera (or it's lens to achieve a zoom burst)
The key with the above three methods is to use a slow enough shutter speed to capture the movement. The alternative is to have your subject obviously move fast but to use a shutter speed so fast that is 'freezes' their movement.

Alter your Perspective- Most portraits are taken with the camera at (or around) the eye level of the subject. While this is good common sense- completely changing the angle that you shoot from can give your portrait a real WOW factor. Get up as high and shoot down on your subject or get as close to the ground as you can shoot up. Either way you'll be seeing your subject from an angle that is bound to create interest.

Environmental Portraits:

I like this picture and I chose this picture because the woman looks like she is enjoying what she is doing and is genuinely happy doing yoga and in nature.

I like this picture because of the lighting in the picture and the background and I like how this picture is not staged and how the person is in the middle of an action or motion.

Photography Self Portrait:

I like this picture and I chose this picture because the woman is taking the picture herself but is looking out at the background through a car windshield which I really like.

I like this picture and I chose this picture because the woman is being creative with her photography skills and using a prop which are the dandelions.

Casual portraits

I like this casual portrait and I chose this one because I really like the background of the colored wood. And the woman is off to the side in a very casual stance and casual outfit.

I like this casual portrait because she is just laying down in a bed of flowers in a cute casual dress with a camera.

Paragraph:

For my portrait assignment I was thinking of shooting my sister who is 5. I think a picture of her with a flower background would be cute for her age. I will also probably dress her in a somewhat causal outfit so the picture does not looked staged. I think that with a fancy outfit the picture will not look natural and the emotion will not come out through the picture. I will make the picture look crisp and "boho" by the background and outfit of my sister. I will make her hair wavy or straight with flowers and a small smile to make it look again, very natural and casual. NOT STAGED.