Few photographers escape the magic of portrait photography. Most of us have a few of them on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr or on the mobile phone. We have been taking portraits for as long as we can remember, since we used to draw mom or dad with a circle and four sticks, since they let us pick up the first camera and press the shutter.
We take pictures of our friends on a night out, we take holiday selfies to envy those who stayed behind working 😉 , we take pictures of our sons and daughters and our pets and anyone who comes our way.
But it is only when we enter the world of photography that we understand and begin to enjoy the magic of portraiture in all its splendor. It is when we stop before a well-done portrait, before one that takes our breath away, when we see all its power, its ability to move us and transmit endless messages, stories and feelings.
And since our main objective as photographers is to try to escape from indifference, to move, to stand out, and for our image to remain engraved on the retina of the viewer, we are going to see a few tricks to achieve more expressive portraits, with more strength, energy and impact.
The model
Not only will you get expressive portraits with impressive models, but it is evident that a model with an impressive physique will more easily approach an expressive portrait than a more bland or less attention-grabbing face. A face wrinkled by the passage of time, someone with an extreme hairstyle or clothing, someone unusually beautiful or attractive (or just the opposite), or with some characteristic feature (an imposing nose, large eyes…) can approach you more easily. to a more expressive portrait.
However, only with the physique of the model you will not get a great portrait; anyone is a candidate for a great hyper-expressive portrait, you just have to add a few more ingredients to the recipe.
Attitude and expressiveness of the face
Look for emotions in the face of the person you photograph: anger, sadness, joy, surprise or mystery are just some of them. Let the emotion be easy to identify for the spectator, it will make him receive the expressiveness of the face better and with more intensity.
Body language
Not only the face speaks of our models. Everything speaks about a person, their arms akimbo, their crossed arms, their palms up or down… Body language in a portrait is a form of expression as valid and outstanding as a smile.
The look
It is the mirror of the soul and one of the most important elements in any type of portrait. As human beings, it is common for our gaze to be directed naturally towards the eyes of the portrayed, so it is an element that stands out naturally. For enhance the look, it is important that it is located somewhere in the frame that enhances this center of interest. A good option is to place the eyes on one of the strong points of the rule of thirds. And even more important than the place where we place our gaze within the frame, is that the eyes are well focused. We won’t get tired of repeating it 😉 Hey, and if they also have a touch of shine, you already have half a photo taken 🙂
Break the ice
If you want a special expression, do not rush, let your model feel comfortable, ask him to talk about some important experience in his life, for example, and pay attention to his expressions, his looks, to the essence of his expression and his mood.
To achieve a good result in this type of portrait, it is essential that plan something the session. You don’t need to have a study or be thinking about it a week before, but at least at the moment you should stop and think what do you want and why, how you can improve the image, what it lacks or what it lacks, and above all, don’t leave your model’s attitude or pose to chance. Don’t be afraid to direct him, to let him know what you want and how you want it. Do tests and more tests, and if they get fed up with you or you can’t find volunteers, you can always fall back on yourself. Take a look at this article that perfectly explains how to get a good self-portrait.
Staging
To achieve a hyper-expressive portrait, you need to make sure it has force and impact. For this, it is essential that you take advantage of everything that surrounds your subject to enhance your message.
- props: Think about whether some kind of complement would suit your idea to accentuate the expressiveness of your portrait.
- Locker room: It is common for us to focus on the face of the portrait and forget something as important as the wardrobe that accompanies it. The wardrobe can enhance our message or destroy it, give it the deserved attention.
- Make-up: If you know makeup or you are lucky enough that your model does, you can play with it to help you enhance the message you are looking for.
- Background: To achieve a hyper expressive portrait, it is convenient that you use backgrounds that enhance and enhance your protagonist. Colors and textures can help you enhance your portraits. Try bright colors that contrast with the clothing, of your model, or that are confused to highlight the face…
The light
The light and directionality of this will be your great allies when looking for expressiveness in your portraits. Lights harsh (strong shadows and high contrast) or diffuse (soft shadows and less contrast), light natural either artificial.
play with the light directionality to create different sensations:
- side light: Generates volume and enhances textures of the portrayed
- Front light: If you are not interested in facial textures or volume, the front light reduces them, as well as the contrast.
- overhead light: Located just by above the protagonist, offers high-contrast images with accentuated shadows under the eyes, nose or chin, this type of lighting being inadvisable for more standard portraits. However, if your goal is a somewhat more extreme or unusual lighting, this may be an option to consider.
- Back light: It is not a common type of lighting either, but if used well, it can give you great results. Not all backlighting is reduced to silhouettes, backlighting enhances textures and allows for fresh, nuanced and textured portraits.
If you are looking for extreme portraits, try more extreme lighting, with hard and non-diffuse light, with marked contrasts, etc.
high and low key
Both techniques have a high visual impact and can be great allies when you are looking for expressiveness in your portraits. High-key portraits are portraits with a white background with lots of light and contrast that transport us to a scene of innocence, purity, joy and positivism. By contrast, low-key portraits are dark, mysterious, sometimes negative. Depending on what you want to convey, these two techniques will help you express it.
Composition
How you position your subject and why says a lot about what you want to express, so don’t leave the composition to chance. Think carefully about how you place your model, how far you want it from the background, from your subject, and at what angle with respect to your camera. Don’t forget to take a look at the composition rules applied to the portrait. Here is an article with specific composition tricks for portraits, you can abide by the rules or break them 🙂 To taste. The most used in portrait are:
How about? Do you dare to create a portrait full of expressiveness? Remember that every time you press the shutter you are one photo closer to achieving it, perseverance and practice will be your best allies to achieve any type of image 😉
I hope this article has been useful to you. If so, do not forget to share it on your usual social network. Thank you and until next time 🙂