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Portrait composition...


benjamin_kim1

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<p>Hello, I'm a photography student. I'm exploring the portrait photography world. Truth be told, I'm not a good at portrait shooting. I was using digital camera and shoot over thousand shots per hour. But I got only 10 good shots. I didn't just shoot with auto mode. My professor told me to use the medium format film camera to practice but I really feel that I need to know some basic things tho...<br>

So I looked up for models(amateurs) for shooting portrait with film camera to practice. I tried twice and booked 4 models. How am I going to practice in order to learn better?</p>

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<p>Look at various publications, books, galleries or museums. There should be some videos on this subject, as well. Practicing with models is fine, but you need to understand what works aesthetically. Also, you need to be cognizant of various tech issues such as light, DOF, lens type, shutter speed, bokeh, etc. It takes time to develop a good eye, where you walk-in and know instinctively what is the best angle/shot.</p>

<p>I don't see the need to shoot thousand of shots in an hour....if you truely understand what you are doing.</p>

<p>Les</p>

 

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<p>1000 shots/hr is insane - no wonder you only got 10 good shots...you don't have time to think about composition, lighting, model expression, etc. Slow down and use the "camera" between your two ears...and visualize the outcome before you shoot.</p>
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Sarah Moon is always an interesting study too, the way she uses the framing and eyes plus her soft focus techniques,

some she used a sheer stocking over an 80-200 Nikkor f4.5 model. I read an interview about her back in the 70s.

Sometimes we need to work off some inspiration and a theme in order to come up with something cohesive that we can

explore the possibilities of and expand on.

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Think about it this way, you need one great picture for your portfolio, you don't get that by shooting 1,00 images an hour.

Take your time, make sure your lighting, posing and composition is what you want it to be, then click the shutter. If you

pay attention to all the details and follow the stuff the teachers are telling you, you should be able to get the shot in one

try, unless there's a blink or some other distraction. An effective tool is to use a tripod so you can more accurately see

what other elements are in play and you can just concentrate on the details, clicking the shutter when the moment is right<div>00d5Dt-554300784.jpg.bda03452d2a1a372dd0b2a7cfd578f98.jpg</div>

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<p>To begin with I'm a bit surprised that as a photography student you apparently don't seem to have an idea what a portrait is.</p>

<p>The 'classical' definition is ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait ) :<br /> A portrait is a <a title="Portrait painting" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_painting">painting</a>, <a title="Portrait photography" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_photography">photograph</a>, <a title="Sculpture" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculpture">sculpture</a>, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, <a title="Personality type" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_type">personality</a>, and even the mood of the person. <strong>For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a <a title="Snapshot (photography)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapshot_%28photography%29">snapshot</a>, but a composed image of a person in a still position</strong>. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer.</p>

<p>So obviously brainlessly blasting away 1000 shots per hour (and that conclusion seems inevitable, considering that from time slot, based on real life experience, inevitably time has to be deducted for posing the model, possible change of outfits, setting up the light, changing lenses on and/or cards in the camera, as well as having the occasional drink and toilet and possibly smoke break, since no one, model nor photographer will be able to continue posing or photographing for hours on a stretch) etc., has hardly, if anything to do with shooting a portrait.<br /> It basically is the photographic equivalent of the classical ' monkey and a typewriter ' theory ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem ).</p>

<p>I can understand why your professor suggest to start shooting on a medium format film camera (although I think he's being a bit too mild and should have pointed you at other things as well). Shooting on a 6x6 camera will give you 12 shots per 120 roll film, after which you will have to change film (or film cassette, of which you no doubt won't have an infinite number of at your disposal) which will prevent you from 'scoring' 1000 shots per hour and, especially given the much higher cost and time for developing and making contact prints, force you to think before you shoot.</p>

<p>If you really want to learn how to shoot a better portrait, best start by putting your camera aside for a while.<br /> As suggested start looking through magazines, websites, films etc. for the kind of portraits you like (I at least assume you actually want to shoot portraits, not just have an excuse to ask pretty girls to stand in front of your camera, or shoot girls in skimpy bikini's on the beach).<br /> Collect those images (tear pages from the magazines, or copy them on your computer, laptop, tablet). Then start to study, and analyze, how those images were taken, type of camera (no, not Nikon or Canon, but rather 35mm or medium format or even larger), camera settings, lenses used, lighting set up, shooting position etc.</p>

<p>Next step would be trying to imitate those shots. Don't start that process by immediately shooting with models again though.</p>

<p>Considering the 10 'good 'shots per 1000 rate you're getting now, you most likely will have as little to show for afterwards (again?), and that will not make you very popular with them, undoubtedly making their willingness to pose melt away very fast.</p>

<p>Uninspiring as it may seem at first sight, do your first try out shoots on eg mannequin heads.<br /> You'll be able to experiment with light, lenses etc, n your own pace and time, till you're comfortable with what you're doing, and hopefully get somewhere near the kind of image you're after, without exhausting the patience and willingness of your 'live' models along the way (when I started my photography studies at the academy of arts many years ago, in junior year we had to practice lighting on packs of fruit juice and later om plaster busts first, and only in later college years on 'live' models).<br /> Even if initially you probably will fail miserably, you will learn from doing things in a thought through way and (hopefully) be able to repeat those you afterwards turn out to have done correctly, and avoid the ones you flunked in (and there's were digital becomes a blessing, it'll cost you only a fraction compared to what shooting film would have cost you).</p>

<p>Then (I would almost say 'only then if you're serious about portraiture then') start shooting with live models.<br /> Having a collection of examples (on you computer tablet or simply in the back of your mind) you want to imitate/strive for will give you a better starting point to begin with, while knowing your technique will take away that part of the stress.<br /> Knowing what you're doing technically and having an idea what you're after will make it easier to concentrate on communicating with your models, give posing instructions (which should extend beyond the classic amateur 'go stand in front of the camera and do your thing, while I take pictures without saying a word while chimping my LCD') and get a 'click'.</p>

<p>You most likely (and hopefully) won't be able to achieve the 'magical 1000 shots per hour' rate any more, but probably end up with better pictures.</p>

<p> </p><div>00d5Eu-554307584.jpg.b5671634da12a321b67b67275174c253.jpg</div>

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<p>Benjamin, golfers have an addage, practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Your professor must have taught you some principles he wants you to consider. Shooting a shot every 3.6 seconds doesn't seem like much thought went into them. More like spraying and praying. Rather than messing with getting, loading, shooting and printing film to slow you down, a viewing card, with a 2x3 ratio rectangle cut in it, either 24/36 mm or 2x3 inches gets your finger off the trigger and forces you to look and see and no chance of an itchy trigger finger, shooting and scooting. Move it in and out, like zooming, around for different crops. Ernst Haas had his students stand in one place and find 10 shots with the card. Try it. If you are going to do this professionally, you must realize that amateurs tend to shoot like crazy, edit quickly and present a ton of mediocre images. I want an image that will be remembered and cherished, not tossed in a computer and never seen again. You might ask your professor for some suggestions on what was a success and what could be improved. Be your own harshest critic. But you have to know what goes into a good image before you can do that well. </p>
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<p>Here's my two cents, very briefly; an exercise:</p>

<p>You must know someone with a good bike and appropriate clothes.</p>

<p>Brainstorm and make sketches of what you can achieve and how you would approach the lighting. </p>

<p>The sky is the limit, have at least 25 ideas.</p>

<p>Order them into a shoot list and get ready.</p>

<p>Have the lighting ready, bring in the subject, and start shooting.</p>

<p>Don't stop, only briefly mess with the lights if you have to or have a helper. No chimping, no putting the<br>

camera down.</p>

<p>Only speak positive things.</p>

<p>Demand that the subject put some effort into it as well. </p>

<p>When you run out of steam, have the subject break and take five.</p>

<p>Go over your shots on the computer and see what went on.</p>

<p>Adjust your lights if you like, evaluate where the strongest shots are.</p>

<p>Start all over again repeating the exact same shoot, or emphasize the strongest shots.</p>

<p>Don't stop, trust yourself. People will do whatever you want for about five minutes, if you keep moving.</p>

<p>Repeat as neccessary.</p>

<p>Good luck!<br>

J.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>In my experience, the best learning occurs over <em>multiple</em> sessions. Shoot, assess, re-group, repeat. The more times you shoot, the more you will improve. The period between shoots gives you time to analyze both the experience and your technical approach. Shooting with different people also helps build your confidence and your people skills. With each successive shoot, you should see improvement in one area or another.</p>

<p>To begin, just keep it simple. Use one large source, fairly close to your subject, and relatively close to camera. Try to resist the temptation to move your primary key too far away from camera; i.e., avoid "dramatic" lighting until you've mastered the basics. Plus, when using only a single source placed near camera (either just above, or beside your lens), you won't need a fill. This keeps things simple, yet still looks great.</p>

<p>Here are a few basics to consider:</p>

<p>• Lighting: A single large source often looks great just on its own.<br /> • Rapport: Try to relax. If you're relaxed, your subject will be more at ease.<br /> • Posing: Try searching "photography posing" in "books" on Amazon.</p>

<p>Posing is perhaps the most difficult aspect of portraiture to perfect since there are so many variables. In general, when shooting head-and-shoulders portraiture, I always strive to introduce some asymmetry into the pose. For example, I never have the subject's shoulders square to camera; instead, I'll always bring one shoulder more forward to camera, and usually raise or drop one shoulder slightly. Plus, the triangle is a very strong compositional form, and if you can create a triangular form out of your subject's body (with the base at the bottom), using a raised forearm, a raised shoulder, or a slight tilt of the head, the photo usually comes out much stronger. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Here's an example of a co-worker of mine, who I really don't know very well. When she came to my house to pose for some pictures, we both were initially very nervous. It took quite a few frames for both of us to relax. Her look was also highly variable from frame to frame, so I actually benefitted from shooting a lot of frames. Some subjects look almost exactly the same throughout a session, but some appear differently in almost every shot, sometimes, startlingly so.</p>

<p>Also, while shooting, you're often so consumed by both the technical aspects, and with building rapport with your subject, that you often get a sort of tunnel-vision, and can easily overlook details which can compromise the shot. I just "found" the shot below, which I overlooked in the initial edit, and is an example of a very simple set-up--a single-source, placed a few feet to my right:</p>

<p><img src="http://studio460.com/images/nancy-onelight-1.png" alt="" width="700" height="467" /></p>

 

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<p>Portrait photography world is a very broad term for you to be using as a student. It would be nice if you could elaborate more on what exactly you are looking to get help in. There are three parts to a portrait. #1 composition which includes your subject as well as the background (organic or staged), #2 lighting (natural or artificial) and #3 cropping (framing). Just by reading between the lines of your post i can assume you have no lighting equipment and have very little experience. Composition is a good place to start then practice with different cropping/framing to achieve different looks of the same composition. Move around your subject to gain different angles while paying attention to how the background effects your subject. Last you can start to introduce lighting (natural or artificial) Keep your framing to headshot, three quarters and full length.</p>
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<p>Just experiment, there are ho hard and fast rules. If it looks good, it's good. <br>

Some people in these forums will tell you to use this or that lens, this or that framing, but they are all just suggestions, not rules. If you want your photos to look like everyone else's, then do what everyone tells you. If you want to find your own vision, just keep shooting.<br>

In the meantime <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=irving+penn&newwindow=1&safe=off&es_sm=119&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=E0LIVInlD-GNmwWtlYKgAQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1117&bih=593">check out some Irving Penn</a>.</p>

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<p>Ian I think that is what this forum is all about, giving suggestions and guidance to those who ask. We wouldn't need teachers or schools if we could do it on our own. Learning some rules certainly helps but I agree that one should then break away. I certainly wouldn't want a person's photos to look like mine that is why we practice what we learn from others and take what we like and find our own style. <br>

Ben, Irving Penn is a great photographer to study for sure. I advise also to seek out other photographer's who's work speaks to you and study all aspects of their images and as Ian say's just keep shooting!</p>

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  • 1 month later...

<p>Use a digital camera, however, use a really old, slow and small memory card that would only allow you no more than 20 images for your camera. Now spend your hour filling that card. You are allowed no more!<br>

Everything folks have said above is very useful. For my pro corporate sets or actors headshots I work to a ratio of one keeper to three images. It has taken me a whole year to get there since starting with portraits but I still envy the chaps who can do it with one exposure and one keeper!<br>

Don't give up.</p>

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