One of the factors that distinguish a snapshot from a portrait is retouching. Every portrait must have some level of retouching. At a minimum, this requires removing blemishes—
something that takes only a few seconds with an image editing application. You shouldn’t even ask the models if they want blemishes removed; they do, but they’ll feel vain asking you to do it. Just do it for them.
Never show models a picture both before and after you retouch it; this can make them feel like you noticed every flaw they have. If you need to retouch a large amount of pictures, you can use software tools to speed the process.
I use Imagenomic’s Portraiture, available at www.imagenomic.com/pt.aspx.
Even if you’re just taking snapshots of your family, every photographer should learn how to remove blemishes. If you lack the patience, computer equipment, or software, you can find photo retouching services online.
Checklists
I’ve made a portrait checklist that you can print and keep with you. Better yet, copy it to your smartphone so you never leave it at home. You can download and print the checklist from sdp.io/checklist.
■ Aperture. For most individual portraiture, I recommend choosing a low f/stop number (such as f/2.8) to blur the background, selecting a single autofocus point, and focusing on the nearest eye. However, self-portrait pre-focusing will never be precise enough to use shallow depth-of-field. Even if you use a mannequin, you will be front- or back-focused by several inches. Therefore, you should select a high f/stop number (such as f/16) to create a deep depth-of-field and provide a margin of error. This will cause your background to be relatively sharp, rather than blurred, so choose a distraction-free location.
■ Shutter. I don’t recommend using a remote shutter; you spend too much time thinking about pressing the shutter and it often appears in the final shot. Instead, use a remote shutter timer, such as the inexpensive models made by Neewer (which are also available under other generic brand names), which typically cost about $15 USD.
Configure the timer to take a photo every one or two seconds. The remote timer will take far more shots than necessary; however, it’s very easy to delete all but the best photo.
■ Flash. If you’re using a flash, set the remote shutter timer to take a picture every eight seconds. That’s enough time to allow you to pose, and after a few frames, you’ll know the rhythm.
To watch a video on self-portraits, scan the QR code or visit:
sdp.io/Self
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Practice
This chapter’s practices help you understand lighting and posing when photographing people.
■ Working outdoors: Bring your favorite ■ model outdoors on a sunny day. Take the following shots both with and without fill flash: sun behind the model, sun in front of the model, sun to the model’s side, and model in the shade. Which position worked best? Did fill flash help or hurt? Repeat this practice on an overcast day and at sunset.
■ Head angle: Find several patient models, ■ both male and female, and have them stand with their shoulders at a 45-degree angle to you. Then, take several different pictures of their faces at different angles. Make note of which poses are most flattering for which people: direct, seven-eighths, three-quarters, or full profile.
■ Head tilt: Shoot both a man and a woman ■ with masculine and feminine head tilts. Have an objective observer choose which pictures they prefer.
■ Posing: Search the web for full body ■ portraits and print a dozen or so different poses. You can also collect poses from advertisements in magazines. Have your favorite model duplicate some of these poses. Talk to the model about which poses are comfortable and awkward. Later, look at the pictures. Which poses worked best?
■ Shooting angle: Shoot full body pictures of ■ a model from ground-level, waist-level, eye-level, and from above. How did each angle change the appearance of the model’s body?
Which angles lengthened the legs or made the model look thinner?
■ Slimming: Most people would rather look ■ thinner in pictures. Experiment with poses that make the model look thinner. For example, have the model turn their waist away from you, but twist their shoulders towards you. Vary the lighting and the shooting angle to find the most slimming combination.
■ Watching the details: So many portraits are ■ ruined by tiny details that are easily overlooked in person, but jump out at you in photos: the bride who didn’t put her drink down, the boy with food in his teeth, or the businessman with a crooked tie. As a portrait photographer, it’s hard enough to monitor the lighting, focus, and depth-of-field. Once you get comfortable with the technical details, keep your eye out for the details. Take a few shots, and then examine the picture closely. Correct these tiny details, and shoot again.
■ Talking while shooting: The hardest part of ■ taking portraits is getting non-models to look comfortable on camera. You need to distract them with constant conversation so they feel like they’re just hanging out with you.
Practice chatting while shooting. It helps if you have some easy conversational topics in mind, like the weather and sports. It also helps to memorize a few jokes that you can recite without much thought.
■ Hair lights: Create a hair light by using a snoot ■ on a light source. If you don’t have a snoot, you can tape a piece of paper around the head of a flash. Find a model with dark hair and use this narrow light source to highlight the top of their hair. Shoot them with and without the hair light.
Which works better?
■ Rim lights: Create rim lighting by positioning ■ a bright light source behind a model, pointed toward them (but not visible in the frame).
Shoot the same poses with and without the rim lights. Notice the effect.
To watch a video on editing a portrait, scan the QR code or visit:
sdp.io/EditingPortraits Take a quiz!
sdp.io/Quiz6
Weddings
chapter 7
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Planning
The wedding photography process starts by meeting with the bride and groom. Sometimes, their parents will want to meet with you, too.
You’ll discuss the types of pictures they want and the style they like. It’s good if they bring samples from bridal magazines or the Internet, so you can get a feel for whether they prefer traditional, artistic, or casual. Bring the pictures to the wedding, or copy them to your phone so that you can reference them.
In addition to their stated style preference, you should plan on taking traditional pictures. Many couples specifically do not want posed pictures, asking instead for candid photos. Agree to take mostly candid shots, but insist on a few posed pictures for the parents and grandparents.
Ask the names of the most important people in the wedding, including the bridesmaid, best man, the wedding party, parents, and grandparents. Get the phone numbers of the parents, the bridesmaid, and the best man, in case you are unable to reach the bride or groom. Make a list of the group shots that they want and who should be in each one. Keep this list with you at the wedding—I like to put the list both on paper and in my phone so that I have it no matter what.
Visit the wedding location a week or two beforehand, at about the same time of day as the wedding. Make note of where the bride and groom will enter and exit, the path they will walk, and where the ceremony will be held.
Find out exactly which direction the bride and groom will be facing during the ceremony so that you will be able to see both faces.
It’s only a matter of time before you impress a couple enough that they ask you to photograph their wedding. This is both a compliment to you and evidence of how significantly people underestimate both the importance and challenge of wedding photography.
Before you attempt a wedding, you must be comfortable with lighting and posing portraits as described in Chapter 6, “Portraits.” Wedding photography isn’t technically any more
difficult than portrait photography; all the same fundamentals apply. The challenges of shooting a wedding are largely non-technical:
■ Between the bridal party and their family, someone is going to be upset.
■ You usually have no control over the location and timing.
■ Most of the people involved will hate having their pictures taken.
■ During the posed shots, everyone will want to get away as fast as possible so they can enjoy the reception.
■ During the rest of the wedding, people will be busy and you’ll need to get pictures of them without getting in the way.
■ Alcohol.
And here’s the biggest challenge a wedding photographer faces: you absolutely have to get it right the first time. If you get back home and discover you left your camera in the wrong mode, you can’t reshoot, and the bride and her mother are going to be very upset.
The good news is that a pair of competent portrait photographers, with good equipment and careful planning, can do a good job as wedding photographers (and save their friends thousands of dollars). In fact, as friends, the couple can be more comfortable around you than they would be with an unknown photographer, and your pictures can be more intimate.
To watch a video overview of
photograhing a wedding, scan the QR code or visit:
sdp.io/Wedding
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■ Snacks and a bottle of water for yourself
■ A towel to wipe the sweat from your brow
■ Extra batteries for your camera and flash
■ Extra memory cards
■ Wireless flashes and light stands, if extra lighting is required for the posed shots
■ Your shot list (get one at sdp.io/checklist)
Process
Though weddings vary, the following sections provide a good overview of what you’ll need to do during each major phase.