Technique: The most important "secret" of good photography is the thought the photographer puts into a picture before s/he even considers picking up the camera! The point here is that we have to train ourselves to think before we shoot! OK, let's start off by examining a few questions we should ask ourselves before we start shooting. Is our subject old or young? What color is his/her clothing? What color is his hair? What color are her eyes? How can we make one or more of those colors (or shades) stand out and emphasize the attractiveness of our subject? Perhaps by using an appropriate background, or placing our subject in an appropriate setting. Look at the examples below, and see how the simple choice of using even a plain, solid color background that matches our subject's eye color, can improve our pictures dramatically. But before going any further, please be aware that I'm not purporting to be a teacher, nor can I guarantee that everything I say is right (heck, I can't even guarantee that anything I say is right). Proceed at your own risk! OK, Let's get started:

NOTE: I can't get the images in this guide to display properly, and the images are very important to understanding the lesson; so I'm working hard to figure out how to get this to work properly; meanwhile, here's some more of the text.

OK, let's first consider what we place behind our subject. We all know (er, well, we all should know) how a different background (also called a backdrop) can completely change the look, feel, tone, and atmosphere of a shot. That's why there are backgrounds! Just as a "quickie" (no, not THAT kind of a quickie ;-) to give you an idea of the power of thinking before shooting, and using a simple background technique, look at the pictures below; both are the same girl. Only one has a blue background, and the other has a green background. Look at her eyes. See?

If you want to improve your pictures and videos, you must consider backgrounds.They don't have to be expensive, professional backgrounds; a simple light blue piece of fabric (as in the image below) can work wonders. And simply placing our subject in the right place (either indoors or outdoors) can similarly work wonders for our pictures. If we don't have a photographic background (also called a backdrop), look around the room or the outdoor location and choose the best background we can for our subject. Indoors, avoid "busy" backgrounds and annoying things on the walls; move our subject to the best part of the room we can find. Outdoors, make sure there are no ugly telephone poles or wires in our camera's viewfinder. Make sure there's no tree behind our subject "growing" out of our victim's head (um, well, our "subject's" head, that is). Also, outdoors, never put the subject in direct sunlight, which causes "squinty" eyes, harsh shadows, and excessive intensity between bright and dark areas of our images! Move them instead to a shady spot for picture-taking. Sunny days may be great for going to the beach, but overcast days are the very best times to make great outdoor pictures.

OK, at this point we have learned to think before we shoot; to take into consideration our subject's age, tone, hair color, clothing color, and eye color, and then choose the best background for our pictures. We've learned to look around and make sure we avoid unnecessary and distracting objects in our pictures (like phone poles, tree trunks, or someone's dirty old socks laying on the chair next to our subjects). We've learned to consider using a photo background to emphasize the attractive aspects of the subject we're photographing. And we've learned to avoid direct sunlight when shooting outdoors. Not bad for just a couple of paragraphs, huh?

Next, we have to ask ourselves: What do we want to emphasize in our picture? How will we direct our viewers' eye to our subject? If it's an outdoors photograph, how will we separate our main subject from any other distracting elements in our photograph? At which angle should we shoot? Is it important to establish place in this photograph (i.e., is it important for the viewer to know where our subject is? Or do we want to hide the location)? If we're shooting people, what is our victim's least appealing feature (i.e., a large nose, a bald head, pot belly, lotsa wrinkles, etc.:)? How can we hide or de-emphasize it? What's our subject's most appealing feature (i.e., eyes, profile, smile, boobs - oops! sorry, I couldn't resist:)? How can we emphasize the attractive aspects of our subjects? These are the questions photographers have to ask, before we shoot. THINK before you shoot! MAKE a photograph - don't "take" a snapshot! Now for a few techniques we can use to make our subjects look great in our portraits:

Quickie Technique #101: Portraits - Where do we put the camera? Which part of the face do we focus on? How far away should we be? First, use a tripod. When? ALWAYS! Unless it's impossible, always use a tripod, and get a remote trigger, as well. Let's start out by learning that we always must consider not only where we choose to place our light, but also learn that we can add a little drama to our photography by considering the exact opposite of light. What's that? It's SHADOWS, of course. One of the great benefits of having lighting equipment (or placement of our subjects in available light) is it allows us to choose exactly where we put the light and where we put the shadows. Look at the example photos below, and you'll see what I mean. So let's start by learning that shadows are just as important as the highlights. OK, let's get started.

Setting up:

1) Place the camera about 8-12 feet away from the subject (or at as close to that as is possible);

2) Set the camera (on the tripod) at subject's eye level;

3) Use a lens of approximately 85mm (or set your zoom lens to around that);

4) Set the camera's aperture to around f8 to f11 (or as close to that as we can reasonably get);

5) Focus on the eyes;

6) Light one side of the face brighter than the other (half in medium to heavy shadow - see images below); if you're using lighting equipment, set the fill light (the light on the shadow side of the subject) at around 50% or 1/2 the power as the main light.

If you're shooting outdoors or using available light, place the subject in a position that allows for medium to heavy shading on part of the face. You can also use a white poster board (available at art supply stores, office product stores, and many other places - I got mine at a drugstore for .39¢) or if you're in a pinch, use even a white towel, pillowcase, sheet or similar item as a reflector to "bounce" some of the ambient light onto the shadow side of the victim's face to create the appropriate lighting effects. The very BEST solution to proper lighting is to have some studio lights; but just placing your victim in the proper place with available light is just fine to start with. I'll explain the "why should I do this" for each of these steps in another guide.

Making the subject look good:

1) To hide facial lines and wrinkles use umbrellas or softboxes (or use an inexpensive "soft-focus" filter);

2) To de-emphasize a large nose, raise camera level slightly and shoot full or 3/4 face, no profiles;

3) To de-emphasize a receding hairline, lower camera slightly or have subject raise head slightly;

4) To hide that 'ol "pot belly" that sneaks up on folks as they age, use clothing that hides it (a suit or sports jacket, is great, or an un-tucked shirt for casual shots), and raise camera slightly to reduce the area of the image in which the pot belly appears.

5) To hide the bags of flesh that hang down from the upper arms of overweight subjects, have them dress in long sleeve or 3/4 sleeve shirts or blouses.

6) Have the subject sit on a chair and cross their legs at the ankles, and place their hands palm-down on their lap, with one hand sitting on the top of the other. While we probably will not have the hands and legs showing in our portrait images, this placement will assure the optimum positioning of the head and body.

7) Have the subject look directly into the camera's lens for several exposures, then look away from the camera in several additional exposures. Make some shots with the subjects looking to the left, to the right, looking up and looking down. Encourage different expressions; make lots of exposures (so you'll have many shots to choose from).

Take the time and thought to prepare your photo sessions long before your subject arrives! Learn to know what you want before you put film or a memory card in your camera. Learn to "design" your pictures before you pick up your camera! Take a piece of paper and a pencil, and sketch out what you want in the picture you're considering; this will be a great help in the beginning, and after a few weeks or months of doing this, you'll start to do it all in your head, and won't need the pencil and paper any more.

When you've had a few months of practicing lighting and making professional-looking images, and you've learned how and where to place the highlights and shadows on your victims, start thinking about capturing a subject in a way that the image reveals what you want it to show to the viewers of the finished image. Ask yourself "What do I want this picture to say? What feelings do you want to convey to the viewers of this image?" For example, if the image is of a young, beautiful girl, do i want to convey sexiness and beauty, as when she wears a bikini on the beach? Do I want to show her as a capable and sophisticated businesswoman, as when she dresses in a business suit? Do I want to convey sadness, as when I show her with tears running down her face at a funeral? There are many different ways to photograph a subject (be it a portrait or a product), and many different ways to convey the feelings that our photographs will elicit in those who see our images. And now, with the modern miracle of digital cameras, we have the fantastic benefit of being able to make an almost unlimited number of exposures, and just "deleting" anything we don't like - without wasting a lot of film - and saving a ton of money on film and developing. So take advantage of these modern miracles, and make some wonderful and wondrous images and videos!

Pretty soon, you'll wake up one day and realize that you've changed; you'll look at the world differently; you'll "see" things most people never even notice; one day, you'll realize that you've become something special; something different, but different in a most amazing and wonderful way; you will have become - a photographer!

OK, so what have we learned today? We learned to think and plan our shots before shooting any pictures. We learned to look around our shooting location to determine where we'll place our victims to achieve the best results. We learned about backgrounds, and how to use even the simplest background (a piece of fabric or a plain wall) to improve our pictures. We learned to make sure distracting and annoying objects don't ruin our images (phone poles, dirty socks, etc.). We learned to look at our subjects to determine and emphasize the best attributes of our subjects, and to identify the unattractive aspects of our subjects (big nose, bald head, etc.), and how to hide or de-emphasize some of the negative attributes, as well. We learned how to set up our camera (on a tripod, with remote trigger), where to focus in portraiture (on the eyes), and how to light a subject's face (light to medium shadow on one side). We learned that using umbrellas or softboxes will help hide those lines and wrinkles that sneak up on us as we age. Not too shabby for just the few minutes it took you to read this guide, huh?

© 2006 RMorgan

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