Portrait photography: the best tips & tricks

Portrait photography is a separate photographic genre. Accordingly, there are many rules that will help you take pictures. We have put together the most important tips for you.

General tips for portrait photography

In portrait photography it is important to create a harmonious image . But also that your models feel comfortable in front of the camera. Therefore, pay attention to the following tips:

• Better of course than asked : Many people feel uncomfortable in poses. Unfortunately, this is also shown in photos. So take pictures of your family and friends with something they enjoy doing. Take a picture of your child playing or your grandfather doing crafts.
• Speaking of children : do not shoot children from above. Otherwise you only see the heads of the little ones on the pictures, but not their faces. Instead, always be on par with children. Photograph them crouched, kneeling or lying down.
• Keep hands busy : hands sometimes become a problem in photo shoots. Especially when models are nervous and don't know how to hold your hands. Therefore, give the person portrayed something that he can hold on to. It can be flowers, a toy or a book.
• Glasses wearers : Depending on the incidence of light, undesired objects are reflected in the glasses. Therefore, use a polarizing filter when photographing people who wear glasses. This largely prevents reflections. Simply screw the polarizing filter onto the front of your lens.
• Create contrast : Make your photos more varied with contrasts. Take photos of neatly dressed couples in rustic places, like in front of an old building. On the other hand, take simple clothes in fine locations, for example in a beautiful garden.

Portrait groups: Avoid these mistakes

For group photos, in addition to the rules already presented, these tips will also help you:

• Focus correctly : When doing group shoots, always focus on the person who is closest to your camera. Otherwise, it will be blurred in the photo and the picture will look unsuccessful.
• The thing with the heads : group photos should appear as alive as possible. Therefore, prevent the portrayed people from lining up in a perfect row. Your photos are otherwise very static. Here's how it works: Position all people so that their heads are at different heights.
• Bringing people together : Of course, we don't stand next to our fellow human beings, but usually keep a little distance. But exactly this distance looks strange and impersonal on group portraits. Therefore, encourage the portrayed to put themselves together more closely.