| Take Good Portraits (Beginner) |
| For beginners, set your SLR (single-lens reflex) to automatic mode, or use an automatic camera, digital camera is also a good choice. Before taking pictures, keep three things in mind: 1. Time --- Do not take portraits outdoor at noon or night. Try to do it at dawn or dusk. (About 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., or 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) This is to avoid underexposure and overexposure. Light at dusk gives the best contrast (hence attractive colours), while that at dawn gives adequate (soft) light. 2. Background --- Choose a good background and avoid ugly or complex background as much as possible. Make sure the background colour is different from the model's colour (i.e. his/her shirt and hair colours). When in doubt, choose single colour background. Avoid dark backgrounds if possible. 3. Model --- Choose a good model! This is perhaps the most difficult part. single colour background Make sure the model suit your purpose. For example, if your topic is "Old", then make sure your model is old enough. (At least 60 years old, I guess.) Also: 4. Close up is much better than whole view ("head to toe"), because the purpose of taking portrait is to show the characteristics of the model, and the characteristics of human beings are in their faces. (Everybody's arms and legs look the same.) 5. Don't use wide angle end of the zoom. It will distort the model's imagine on the picture (the model may look fatter). Use telephoto end of the zoom, set to around 70-110mm. 6. Hold your camera vertically. 7. Try to have only one model in every portrait for beginner level. This can avoid the problem of out of focus. 8. Don't use flash unless it is absolutely necessary to fill the shadows on the model's face. (Beware that automatic exposure may misled by brighter background.) 9. When the model is look to one side, leave more space in front of ther eyes. Sign my guestbook or e-mail me for comments or questions. |
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| You should use flash to feel the shadow in the model's face in this case, becaue the background is bright. |
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| Leave more space in front of her eyes. |