More portrait tips today!

If you have been reading this blog any length of time, you have heard me speak about the 3 building blocks that make a great photo.

1) Lighting

2) Composition

3) Moments

Without those components your photos are just not going to be that memorable to your viewers.

Here’s a few more examples from my daughter’s photo shoot that we did recently. We spent a total of about 15 minutes at each site, so we really didn’t spend that much time but, were able to capture some very nice portraits. Let me talk you through my thought process.

1. I was driving somewhere recently and came across a small portion of train track that was asphalted over on the street, but ran beside a warehouse near our home. Perfect for a quick location. One of my daughter’s favorite past time’s is to pick dandelion’s and blow the seeds away! Bummer for my lawn, but good for photos on location.

So, let’s reverse engineer this photo to see what makes it memorable. Lighting? Backlighting but nice even illumination from the camera. I just overexposed to make sure that the subject wasn’t turned into a silhouette. Composition? Her eyes are placed near the upper right area of convergence(the intersection of the upper horizontal third and the right vertical third). Moment? The look in her eye shows her personality which makes for a great and memorable image.

2. Our next image really showcases our subject’s personality. Moment? Totally at ease in front of the camera. For some subjects this takes forever. Most can be put at ease after just a few minutes of talking from the photographer. Ask about anything. The goal is to get your subject thinking about anything but having their picture taken. It really works.

Composition? There is something called an S curve that our subject has contorted her body into. It isn’t fake or posed looking. It places her face in the upper right area of convergence and takes the viewer’s eye from the top right to the lower left! Easy!

Light? Same backlight situation as the first. Which gives our photo beautiful light that highlights our subject’s hair and shows off the train rails.

3. I was able to put a special technique on this image, but the building blocks are still the same. A side-view put a rim light on our entire subject and her head is in the upper left area of convergence.

4. Finally, we have a change of venue and outfit. The lighting is ambient, non-direct that allows for a very soft light washing over our subject. The composition places the subject’s eyes in the left upper area of convergence. It takes the viewer’s eyes into the image and the placement of the subject’s arm takes the viewer’s eyes back into our subject’s face and vice versa.

Talk to your subjects to relax them.

Utilize composition to lead your viewer’s eyes to keep them invested in your image.

Look for lighting that will be complimentary to your subjects.

Last time we looked at some portrait basics. I would like to go a little bit more in depth today at photography portrait tips. To let you into my thought process during a portrait session.

In our first photo our model is leaning against a wall in downtown Orange. It was a senior photo session, so I want my subject to have a variety of situations and outfits. The most important thing I want is for the subject to feel at ease. Keep your subject focused on you and the atmosphere that you are creating. That way they aren’t intimidated by onlookers etc.

Still looking at our first image, I used a long lens and a small f/stop to create a shallow depth of field. That way the subject pops out of the canvas and really captures the viewer’s eye. I’ve placed our subject’s head in the upper right area of convergence to lead our viewer’s eye right to her face.

The photos are shown in a chronological order to show our subject’s level of comfort at being in front of the camera.

In the second image, We have the same outfit, but my assistant suggested a pose from a popular singer’s CD. I always try to include input from my subjects. It’s just one more thing to put our subject at ease.

Her head is in the upper left area of convergence and I had her put her knees together for modesty and the lines that her legs and arms would make. Her pose is casual and playful and it matches her smile. The light is coming from higher up and from camera left. Let’s move to the next image.

A new outfit and location is part of our third photo.

A nice shaft of light coming from camera left set the stage for this 3/4 portrait. The light is strong, but pleasing and does not cast any harsh shadows. It’s dramatic light, so I didn’t ask my subject to smile. Instead she opted for a more calm and serious look. In our next and fourth image, I wanted to demonstrate that when you find good light, work it!

Don’t forget to try out different layouts, both vertical and horizontal. Sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised at how different your images can look just by changing the orientation of your camera. My subject is using her arm as a design element to lead the viewer’s eye right to her face.

The fifth image is where our subject really started to feel at ease. She put her jacket back on and I moved closer to capture her facial expressions. Her eyes are in the areas of convergence and that is what the viewer is lead to.

My last image really captured her personality and her ability to dance. I always ask about hobbies that my subject’s might pursue and might be an expert in. My subject had danced for years so I asked her to move around. Bu this time of the shoot she didn’t have any hesitation and didn’t mind the occasional passerby. It was fabulous! Her body is in the right vertical third with her head in the upper convergence area. The viewer’s eye will be lead to our subject making a much stronger composition.

So to review:

Help your subject to feel at ease. Be open to input from your subject and helpers. Look to match your subject’s mood with the surroundings and lighting. Try different orientations when you find good light. Once your subject starts feeling at ease really push for great facial expressions and poses. Finally, ask your subject about areas that they might have expertise. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Today I want to look at a few images from a trip to Paris. Let us study some digital photography tips about travel photography.

When you go to a different place, your senses are heightened and you are aware of the smallest details. Details you might normally overlook.

One of my list of things to do in my life, was to visit the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Thanks to my good friend, Travel Editor at the Orange County Register, Gary Warner, my first trip was a quick 18 hour side trip to the city of lights before meeting up for our assignment in London, England. What a great guy!

One of my strongest rules about vacation photography is too shoot now!

Things happen and you might never see or have a chance to photograph something again. So see it and shoot it!

Just because you are visiting the Eiffel Tower, you still need to apply strong photo rules to make a great image.

Please remember the three rules of a great photograph:
1) Composition
2) Lighting
3) The Moment

Remember these and when you are in the fantastic and exotic location, you can make incredible and memorable images to last a lifetime.

Our first image was a very French-looking man who stopped to gaze out one of the windows in the Louvre. Let’s reverse engineer to see how I did:

1. Composition – I placed the gentleman and his beret in the lower right area of convergence, where the lower horizontal and the right vertical meet and the tower of the building in the upper left area of convergence.

2. Lighting – Strong light from outside created a silhouette of anything inside the window. A strong and high contrast image results from this type of lighting.

3. The Moment – The moment captures the essence of the scene or event that you are photographing. For me, the solemness of this museum made me want to capture a reverence that I felt. In the midst of the masterpieces, this man took a break to gather his thoughts before returning to the most incredible museum in the world.

Next, one of my favorite pieces in the Louve.

Cupid and Psyche by Canova.

The story/myth about Cupid and Psyche in a nutshell is about love, jealousy, redemption and loyalty.

Let’s do one more:
1) Composition – The lovers are placed into the lower left area of convergence and the shaft of light helps to lead the eyes of the viewer to the statue. Also, the wings of Cupid and Psyche’s arms make an X on their faces.

2) Lighting – Beautiful sidelight coming from a large window on camera right and the shaft of light add drama and contrast.

3) The Moment – Even though our couple is frozen in their pose, what a romantic pose it is. The summary of their story is shown by Canova and his masterpiece.

When I went to Paris hoping to capture a different view of the Eiffel Tower. My first idea was to shoot the tower from a window. Too expensive for a hotel and I couldn’t find the right angle, maybe next time! My next wish was to try a view from the surrounding neighborhood.

I wandered around and found a street scene complete with cars, trees and an apartment building. I placed the tower in the left vertical third, to add to the imposing height of the tower.

Finally, a nice surprise!

I was on a tour boat on the Seine river and saw the Statue of Liberty! This second Statue of Liberty is near the Grenelle Bridge on the Île des Cygnes, an island in the river Seine.

I composed it so the statue was in the right vertical and the Eiffel Tower could be seen in the left vertical. Lady Liberty’s face is near the upper right area of convergence and the tower is in the lower left area of convergence.

Thank You, France!

Lastly, I just wanted to thank Phototrend.fr for linking my new blog!

Bonjour!

One of the main digital photography tips that elude most photographers is the direction of light.

Where is the light coming from and how will it affect my subject?

This is a question that most photographers never even consider. Light always has a direction. Sometimes you have to study the image very closely, but there will always be a direction to the light.

Consider the photo above.

I took this a few years back for a story on this young lady who ran a youth program in the inner city. There were great bold colors in her office space and it was near the Day of the Dead celebration.

Look closely and identify where the light is coming from.  Do you see it?

The light is coming from the right side of the photo (actually from a large window just out of view). It is lighting the left side of our subject’s face (we call this camera right).

I have placed her head in the upper right convergence areas of the right vertical line and the upper horizontal line and the head of the skeleton is in the upper left area of convergence. The viewer’s eyes are lead to the two heads.

The quality of the light is soft and diffused. This type of lighting is called open shade or ambient. Light that isn’t directly hitting the subject can be referred to this way. Ambient lighting is very complimentary for photographing people, but remember it has a direction to it.

So, we have ambient light that is lighting our subject from the side. We have a subject that is resting in one of our main areas of convergence and we have a nice moment for our subject.

Practice identifying the direction of light as much as possible.

It will help you as you progress as a photographer, so your photographs will begin to be crafted with a purpose, not just random snapshots.

I will be posting more digital photography tips about seeing light soon. Enjoy!

Hi, I wanted to talk today about photographic composition and the rule of thirds.

This image illustrates how each frame needs to be carved into thirds, both vertically and horizontally. The areas where the lines meet are referred to as the areas of convergence.

This photo is of my niece, who I asked to stand against the wall of the entry way of my old house. I spent about 20 hours converting this wall into an Italian villa-like wall. So, I took a picture of it anytime I could!

Her yellow dress and the flowers on her shirt matched the wall, so I placed her face in the upper left area of convergence. The viewer’s eye is naturally led to these areas, so the goal of the photographer is achieved.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Digital photography tip on lighting and our angle or point of view.

This entry talks about light and how often we don’t really recognize it and how our angle or point of view makes all the difference.

In the first image we have a typical crib in a nursery. There’s a window that is on the left side with non-direct light coming into the room.

In the second photo we have our baby. Most people are happy with this type of an image. We can see the baby in the photo and that is about all. The angle is from a normal adults view, high above and looking down on the baby.

But in our last image, we have an image that will last.

Why?

Because it combines composition (I’ve placed the baby’s face in the upper area of convergence), great lighting (the window provides  soft even lighting) and a nice moment as the baby smiles.

My angle or point of view helps to draw the viewer into the image by shooting through the slats of the crib to bring some visual complexity into the photo, too.

Instead of a boring image of a baby lying in their crib, we have a memorable photo of a really cute baby seen from their point of view of the world. The slats do give more complexity to the photo, too.

To review:

Window light where the light is not directly shining on the subject is normally very soft and beautiful.

The angle/point of view of our photo is highly important to give a different perspective to your photographs.

Hope you enjoyed another digital photography tip!

Have a great day.

Here’s a simple tip on composition, starring one of the cutest kids I have ever photographed. Sam is a great little model. Thanks to Brock & Esther his mom and dad for letting him appear.

When composing an image in your viewfinder or LCD live view(on the back of your camera) think of carving or dividing up the area into equal thirds both horizontally and vertically. Draw lines through those areas and where they meet is where you want to put the most important subject of your photos. For example, little Sam’s head is near the area of the convergence of the upper horizontal and the right vertical lines. The viewer’s eyes (that’s you and me) will naturally be lead to look in those areas. So, not only is he cute, but our composition makes us want to look even more! And that is the goal of every photographer, to have viewers want to look at their photos. Have a great day!