Photography: How To Shot People?

A. There are few steps to follow........

They are as under..............

STEP 1: PLAN THE SHOT

Begin by communicating with your subject. Learn exactly what is expected from the portrait session, and how the pictures you shoot will be used. Next, find out about the setting that you will be shooting in ahead of time. This will guide you in your choice of lights and background materials. Arrange ahead of time the kind of clothing the subject will wear. It is best if they avoid pure white or black; very light or dark clothing can make lighting much more difficult. 

STEP 2: SET UP THE LIGHTS AND BACKGROUND

In addition to your camera, you will need some lighting equipment. This can be as simple as a couple of off-camera flash units with umbrellas, or a couple of tungsten lights. In addition to the lights, you will also need a tripod and a background cloth. If you are shooting a busy executive, you may want to have someone else stand in while you adjust your lights and test your initial exposures. Set your main light at a 45-degree angle, and bounce it into a white umbrella. Set a second light up behind and to one side of your subject. This light will give your subject some definition against a dark background. Use a fill card on the opposite side of the main light to balance the light on the subjects face but keep the ratio of light between the main source and the fill uneven for a more interesting portrait. If the background is distracting, hang a black cloth several feet behind where the subject will sit. Test your exposures, adjust the power output of your strobes, and shoot a few frames. 

STEP 3: ADJUST YOUR CAMERA

If you are using flash units, you will need to set up your camera to synchronize with them. We decided to work with both the flash and camera on manual, letting the photographer make all the exposure decisions. Switch your flash units to manual mode and turn off your internal flash. Choose a fast shutter speed to minimize any effect of ambient (room) light, and adjust your aperture to give a good exposure. This will be a function of the amount of light your flash units put out; reviewing a few test shots should show you the correct exposure. Be sure to set your color balance to match the electronic flash. If you are using incandescent (hot) lights, adjust your colour balance to match those lights. Set your camera to aperture priority mode, and choose a starting f-stop one stop down from wide open. If your camera has a portrait mode, you should experiment with that too. If your camera allows you to alter the degree of sharpening, use the normal or soft mode. 

STEP 4: POSE THE SUBJECT

Engage your subject in a conversation as you work. Evaluate the person’s look, and compensate with your lights and the camera angle you choose. For  example, if a person has a very thin face, have them look straight into the camera, while if they have a round face, try a 3/4 pose, and lift your camera angle a bit. If they have a lot of wrinkles, use softer wrapping light by bringing your umbrella closer. A large nose can be minimized by having it face directly into the camera with the chin raised slightly. A small nose can be given more emphasis with a side view. Watch out for reflections on eyeglasses, have them turned away from the lights, or raise your lights until the reflection goes away. 

STEP 5: TAKE THE PHOTOGRAPH

Be sure the focus is sharpest on the eyes. That’s the first place people look when examining a portrait. If your camera lets you zoom in when you are in review or play back mode, you can use that feature to check for sharp catch lights in the eyes. Catch lights are reflections of the light source that give life to the person’s eyes and make the portrait look natural. If you can think of any humorous stories, share them as a natural smile can add warmth to a formal portrait. Review your images as you work, and make sure you have good expressions as well as good exposures before you end the session.

Profesor AZii................

waiting for your comments....