One of the topics that you request the most from us is undoubtedly that of portrait photography. If you like this type of photography, you’re in luck: you’ve just come across an article in which you’ll find answers to all your questions about portrait photography.
I have made it my goal to make this article the most complete SOURCE of information you will find on the Internet when it comes to taking portrait photos.
Regardless of your level as a photographer, whether you are a beginner, amateur or advanced, this monumental guide will help you understand the most important aspects with which you can improve your portrait photography.
In the next lines I will present you with resources, tools, links to articles and information where we reveal all the tricks that professionals use to take portrait photos.
Important: the techniques and tricks that I am going to reveal to you in this article will allow you to achieve photographic results close to the examples that you will find on this page or in the links that I include in it, however, the theory alone will not take the photo for you.
Before starting, I need you to commit to writing down those ideas or tricks that seem useful to you, but above all, that you carry them out.
The best way to learn portrait photography is by practicing portrait photography.
Another thing: I recommend that you add this article to your favorites. I don’t want you to lose track of him because an untimely person rings your doorbell in the next few minutes.
Add the article to your favorites so you can refer to it later every time you need to clarify a doubt about how to take portrait photos.
With that said, let’s get to the point.
INSIDE THIS ARTICLE… đ
What is portrait photography?
The portrait photography is a photographic genre that consists of capturing the characteristics of a subject, whether individual or group, through the use of light, background, poses, technique or composition. The story, the message or the emotion are essential ingredients for any portrait photography.
If you want to discover the types of portrait photography that exist, I will tell you about them below.
portrait photography
Types of portrait photography
There are many types of portrait photography, here I indicate some of these types. If you want to learn how to take good portraits, it may be a good idea to practice different types of portraits:
- fashion portrait
- Self-portrait (Selfie)
- High key / low key portrait
- Couples Portrait / Wedding
- Family/Group Portrait
- black and white portrait
- surreal portrait
- concept portrait
- artistic portrait
- boudoir portrait
- stolen portrait
What is the best camera to take portrait photography?
Although good portraits can be taken with any camera, there is a certain type of camera that will allow us to get a lot out of the subject in front of us.
To do this, we will need a camera with manual controls: it can be a digital SLR or a mirrorless. These cameras offer the advantage of, first, having an interchangeable lens, something that will allow us to invest later in a good specific lens for portraits (I’ll tell you more about this later).
The second advantage of these cameras is the ability to set the camera to shoot in manual mode. Being able to adjust the camera in manual mode will give us an incredible advantage when preparing and executing our portrait photography. (To master the Manual Mode, I recommend this other mega guide that I have prepared for you).
Within this type of cameras, any camera is worth it. These are our SLR camera recommendations to get you started.
Best lenses for portrait photography
If you have an interchangeable lens camera, your thing is that you are gathering some money to invest in a good lens for portraits.
In terms of lenses, there are many options on the market so, so that you do not feel lost, in this article we have prepared a list of the ideal lenses for portrait photos.
Yes, but⌠what lens do I need to shoot portraits?
If within the previous list you ask me about my #1 recommendation, on a personal level I have an obsession with a lens that I call âThe King of Lensesâ: I am referring to the 50mm f/1.4, which I have talked about in this blog until now. satiety.
If you want to know more about how this lens can help you take good portraits very easily, take a look at the article I dedicated to it.
Another option you have is its cheaper version, “The Prince of Objectives”, I leave you more info about this one here.
Recommended Accessories for Portrait Photography
Not all, but a good part of portrait photography owes its merit to something as small and secondary as accessories.
Most professional portrait photographers have a kit of accessories that they take with them everywhere.
If you want to discover which are the best recommended accessories to take portrait photos, here is this article where you will find all these accessories.
Portrait Photography Tips
I am of the philosophy that there are no impossible photos.
All the photos, no matter how spectacular or impressive they may seem to us, were taken by a person of flesh and blood, so sooner or later, with greater or lesser difficulty, any of us can achieve the same photo, as long as we have enough dose of tenacity yes, and as long as we know the tricks and practices that great photographers follow to achieve those results.
The same applies to 1000% portrait photography.
It does not matter if you have a humble or cheap camera, if they explain to you the technique behind portrait photography and you start practicing on your own, little by little you will learn those same tricks that portrait photographers use in their work. .
One day, you’ll be shooting portrait photos with the same level of professional quality as those photographers you’ve always envied.
If you want to learn how to make good photographic portraits, here I bring you a list of articles where we have gathered most of these tricks used in portrait photos that you see out there:
photographic portrait lighting
To take good portraits you need good light.
Whether it’s natural light or artificial light portraiture, you need to know a few principles around lighting control in portraiture.
If this is what you are looking for, here are three articles where we explain in a very simplified way how you can control the light in the portrait, how to direct it on the face of your subject and thus achieve spectacular portrait photos.
Composition in portrait photography
Composition is another key ingredient to successful portrait photography.
If you don’t pay attention to the composition factor, it’s easy to ruin that portrait that has taken you so much time and work.
In this article you will find everything related to composition in portraits.
Take care of the composition in your portraits
The poses in the portraits
When you photograph professional models it is very easy. They know how to move and pose and you don’t worry about this part.
However, when this is not the case, you have to direct the poses. Ideally, you should have some outlines of poses prepared, in the format you want, either in photos on your mobile, some sheets of paper with sketches, whatever is most comfortable for you when doing your portrait session.
These two articles will be of great help to you.
How to take sharp portraits
A very frequent problem among amateur photographers when they begin to venture into portrait photography is the issue of sharpness.
In portraiture, it’s easy to fall into blurry or slightly out of focus portraits.
Solving it is very simple, we will tell you about it in the following article.
Indoor Portrait Photography
If you have a hard time taking portrait photos indoors, don’t worry, you’re not the only one.
Photos taken indoors come with a particular difficulty: the scarcity of natural light.
No matter how much indoor light we have, an indoor portrait will always require special steps if we want to obtain a correctly exposed portrait photo.
For this, I leave you this article where we show you some tricks to improve your indoor portrait photographs.
How to take black and white portraits
What happens if we combine two photographic genres such as portrait and black and white?
Black and white gives portrait photography an interesting âemotionalâ dimension that is difficult to achieve with color.
If you haven’t tried it so far, I invite you to try making black and white portraits because you may be pleasantly surprised.
How is it done? We tell you here.
Black and white portraits capture the soul
night portraits
One of the most original ways I know of to take portrait photos is at night, producing a ânight portraitâ.
With the theme of the night few people dare in photography, perhaps because of the supposed difficulty involved.
In this article, however, we try to demystify that supposed difficulty. Within it we have prepared 11 ideas to make a beautiful night portrait, without flash, and in a very simple way.
portraits with water
One of the most creative ways to do portrait photography and, incidentally, have fun, is by using the element of âwaterâ.
How can I make portraits with water? â you may be wondering.
Don’t worry, here we have prepared an extensive article full of inspiration and ideas so you can try this fun way of doing photography.
Don’t be afraid of portraits in the water
portraits on the beach
The beach is one of the natural places that gives more play when it comes to making photographic portraits.
In this article we show you some very creative ideas to make your next portrait photography on the beach. In the article you will also find tricks and guidelines to make your task easier đ
stolen portraits
The “stolen” is a subgenre of portrait photography, it overlaps with some interpretations of the journalistic genre, although it also has points in common with the street photography or street photography.
For those of you who are attracted to stolen portrait photography, in the following article you will find specific tips and tricks for taking this type of photography.
Portraits of pregnant women
Pregnancy is a very special stage that many women want to capture to always remember it.
This type of portrait has its own characteristics and some aspects to take into account to capture the best of the moment.
That is why we have prepared a complete guide on pregnancy photography, with tricks, tips and a lot of inspiration, which you can see at the link….