Ultimate Guide to Portrait Photography

Written by MasterClass

Portrait photography is a style of photography that portrays human subjects. Portrait photography has been around since the dawn of photography, when Louis Daguerre invented the daguerreotype in 1839--the same year that Robert Cornelius aimed the camera at himself and took what is widely believed to be the first self portrait photograph ever, laying the groundwork for portrait photography to emerge as its own art form. Cheap, fast, and portable, portrait photography soon replaced traditional hand-painted portraiture, allowing photographers more freedom in documenting the human condition.
Portraits tell stories of not just people but also of time, culture, experience, and place. Whether you’re taking casual photos of relatives or friends, or setting up a professional shoot like for headshots, there are a few basic portrait photography tips and techniques that will ensure a positive experience and successful outcome.

In This Article

• All About Camera Settings
• Photoshoot Environments
• Getting Comfortable With Your Subject
• Practice Makes Perfect

All About Camera Settings

In theory, any camera, from a disposable to a smartphone to digital cameras, is suited for portrait photography. DSLRs or mirrorless point-and-shoot cameras are ideal since they offer manual settings, affording a photographer tight control over adjustments like exposure, aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. The dynamic nature of the subject paired with a wide range of environments, from professional studios to the great outdoors, means there is no one-size-fits-all setting for a camera. What is important to keep in mind, instead, is the relationship between your lens, your subject, and your background.
For experienced photographers, lens choice is a matter of personal preference. For beginners, start with a lens between 85mm and 135mm before experimenting with zoom lenses or longer telephoto lenses for close-up photos. The 85 through 135 range is considered prime for portraits because these focal lengths (or, the millimeters between the camera’s sensor and the lens) provide the sharpest result without widening or flattening the subject too much. These portrait lenses also provide some room to play with blurring the background; you can achieve this effect, known as a shallow depth of field, by widening the aperture to a low setting and maximizing the distance between your subject and the intended focus of the blur.
Shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are all related to the brightness, or exposure level, of the image. Factor in the unpredictability of human nature (scratching, sneezing, blinking) along with the infinite variances in skin tone and bone structure, and the task of properly exposing an image may seem daunting. Take your time with test shots, playing with shutter speed and aperture to find the most appropriate light. If you prefer a quicker shutter speed to minimize motion, you might lose some brightness; this is easily re-introduced by raising the ISO.

Photoshoot Environments

The environment you choose to shoot in goes hand in hand with your camera settings. There are two broad categories of environments: indoors and outdoors. Indoors includes homes, places of work, and professional studios complete with backdrops, a full lighting setup (flash and all), and other props. Outdoor settings range from the urban, like city streets, to the natural, like gardens and parks. When selecting an environment, do consider that a soft, diffused natural light from an indirect source is best for shooting portraits. Direct, harsh light or a full sun can cast unwanted dark shadows. A flash can, of course, be used as supplementary lighting, but the resulting images may exhibit a staged quality that contradicts the essence of a portrait.

Getting Comfortable With Your Subject

Besides deftly handling a camera, a good portrait photographer is well-versed in the art of making people feel comfortable. Ideally, this relationship-building begins before a shoot. Consider meeting your subject for coffee and learning more about them: what are their interests and hobbies? What do they do for work, and how does that make them feel? What are some places that hold meaning for them? Could they share any pictures of themselves that they love? This pre-shoot research demonstrates a thoughtfulness that should facilitate a more productive and comfortable shoot.
There may be scenarios, however, in which you won’t have time to do extensive research before taking someone’s portrait. In this case, it is first and foremost important to obtain the person’s approval. Be respectful in your approach and kind throughout the process. Fortunately, unlike buildings, roads, or even wildlife, human subjects have the added benefit of offering a photographer feedback, whether consciously or subconsciously. Some people blossom in front of the camera while others become shy. Some might be willing to sit for hours while others might want to rush through the process. The portrait photographer bears the responsibility of interpreting the subject’s body language and making tweaks to the process as they see fit.
Sharing parts of the process also helps people feel comfortable. If your subject is shy, try suggesting a handful of poses to warm them up. Show the result on camera and ask what the subject thinks, what they like and what they dislike. Offer advice for improving the shot. Making the process collaborative simultaneously empowers the subject and allows the photographer to get not just a great portrait, but also a true one.

Practice Makes Perfect

There are a few simple ways to accelerate your skill development in portrait photography. First, focus on the eyes. Eyes are evocative and powerful; eyes tell a person’s story, reveal a person’s moods. Compose the portrait so that the eyes are a central focal point. Consider blurring the background to place even more emphasis on the facial features.
Next, be mindful of the camera’s angle in relation to the subject’s height. When shooting children, for example, place yourself on their level instead of shooting down (which is the difference in demonstrating equality and individuality versus diminishing the subject or talking down to them). There might be some instances in more creative portraiture in which experimenting with angles will yield interesting results. Get creative, but also keep in mind a few unflattering angles to avoid, like upshots from below the chin. You want to make yourself look and feel good.
Portrait photography is a very intimate art form. It can feel intimidating, especially at the beginning, since the photographer’s goal is essentially to capture the subject’s soul on camera. Start practicing with someone you already have rapport with and ask them to provide you with feedback on your style. A confident photographer knows that there is always more to learn.

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The 7 Best Digital Cameras Under $200

by Commerce Editor  

Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

Thanks to technological advancements, the best cheap digital cameras are as powerful and feature-rich as top digital cameras from a few years ago. You don't have to spend a lot of money find good, inexpensive digital cameras.

Some photographers consider the price point of up to and including $200 to be the perfect sweet spot for someone who's new to photography. Not only will you receive a pretty good value on the $200-and-under camera, but it should have some decent features and capabilities. This is also a great price point for finding slightly older but still strong cameras from 18 to 24 months ago that have now dropped in price as the manufacturer clears out the inventory.

If you're willing to take the risk, you may find some really strong cameras in this price point that are used or refurbished. Of course, a used camera probably won't have a warranty associated with it, so you'll need to have some confidence in the person who is selling the model. Still, if you can get few years' worth of work out of a used camera in this price point, it'll have been worth the investment.

For this list, we're sticking to relatively new cameras. Here are the best cheap digital cameras under $200.

Our Top Picks

Best Overall: Nikon CoolPix A10

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In the sub-$200 category, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better camera than the Nikon CoolPix A10. Allowing for a respectable 5X Optical Zoom with the NIKKOR glass lens, this Sony can clearly capture the detail even from a great distance. With an ergonomic design reminiscent of traditional SLR cameras, the CoolPix A10 sits comfortably in your hands and looks fantastic. Several special features make this camera stand out, like six camera filter types such as Portrait mode and Party Mode, which automatically adjusts the flash to match the available lighting, as well as Picture Effect, which lets you add a creative touch to your photos through edits.

The 2.7-inch LCD display screen makes it easy to compose shots and navigate settings even in direct sunlight. Great for filming short movies, the Nikon CoolPix A10 records at 720p and delivers sharp video quality. While not as customizable as a more expensive model, this camera is guaranteed to capture fine detail and vibrant color, making it perfect for anyone wanting to take their photography to the next level.

Best Compact Point-and-Shoot: Canon PowerShot ELPH 190 IS

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Canon has a long track record of producing top-notch cameras for any budget or experience level. With the Canon PowerShot ELPH, you get a compact point-and-shoot digital camera that delivers crisp image quality for the amateur photographer at an extremely reasonable price point.

This camera excels at its ease of use. With up to 10X zoom capabilities and an Optical Image Stabilizer, your photos will come out clear with every shot. The Smart AUTO function selects the appropriate settings for any given situation, so that you don’t have to. Once you’ve captured the perfect image, built-in WiFi capabilities allow for quick and easy photo transfers to your device of choice, which makes sharing your favorite pictures a breeze.

The Canon PowerShot ELPH also comes equipped with a few fun settings, such as Fisheye, Toy Camera and Monochrome effects, as well as HD video, so you can get creative with your imagery. Available in black, blue or red and small enough to fit in your pocket, the Canon PowerShot ELPH is the perfect point-and-shoot camera for amateur photographers who want a camera that is highly portable and easy to use without sacrificing quality.

Check out our other reviews of the best Canon cameras​ available on the market today.

Best Waterproof Point-and-Shoot: Nikon’s CoolPix W100

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Nikon’s CoolPix W100 is a go-anywhere, do-anything type of camera that is ready to tackle ocean photography right out of the box. Capable of going underwater up to a depth of 33 feet, the Nikon is also shockproof from a drop of 5.9 feet, as well as freezeproof all the way down to a temperature of 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Snapping shots with the W100 underwater is a 13.2-megapixel CMOS image sensor and NIKKOR 3x optical zoom with a 6x dynamic fine zoom. Once you’ve concluded your latest underwater adventure, moving pictures off the W100 is a snap, thanks to Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth connectivity alongside Nikon’s SnapBridge app that’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices. It weighs .82 pounds and the rated battery life allows for a fairly standard 220 shots before requiring a re-charge. If your adventurous side keeps you away from charging for days at a time, a second battery is highly recommended to ensure you can capture every shot 20,000 leagues under the sea.

Want to take a look at some other options? See our guide to the best waterproof cameras.


Best Budget: Sony DSCW800/B

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It can be a struggle to find a decent camera that balances image quality with affordability. The Sony DSCW800/B 20.1-megapixel digital camera offers all the basic features that you would need with a point-and-shoot camera for a seriously affordable price. While you would get slightly more features with a more expensive model, the Sony DSCW800/B allows for 5X optical zoom, SteadyShot image stabilization, 360^o panoramic capabilities and a 720p HD movie setting for recording high-quality videos. Sony’s simple and compact model makes it perfect for everyday use, and a USB charging port allows you to take this camera on-the-go.

Best Design: Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic Instant Film Camera

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Here’s a trip down memory lane. The Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 is just one in a large line of instant cameras produced by Fujilfilm and its competitor Polaroid. What makes the Mini 90 Neo Classic unique is its impressive vintage design. It looks like something from before the digital age.

To be clear, this camera serves a very specific purpose: It shoots and immediately prints images like an old Polaroid. If that’s not something you’re into, turn away now. If it is, buckle in. The Mini 90 can automatically detect the brightness of its surroundings and adjust the flash and shutter speed accordingly—much like a digital camera. Macro mode allows for short distance photography as close as 30-60 cm, and the Kids mode boosts the shutter speed for capturing fast moving objects. Perhaps coolest of all, the Mini 90 has a double exposure mode that captures two images on one film sheet. This allows for a variety of creative options when combined with the macro, light/dark options, timer and flash modes.

Still can't decide on what you want? Our round-up of the best instant cameras can help you find what you're looking for.

Best Starter Kit: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H300 Bundle

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When you think of Sony cameras now, your mind probably turns to their wide range of mirrorless options, which makes sense because Sony really has pulled ahead in that segment of the market. But if you’re looking for a solid camera package that won't break the $200 mark, you’ll want to take a look at their DSC-H300 bundle.

First, the camera’s specs: there’s a 20.1MP sensor for a ton of pixels (more than some DSLRs); it’s a fixed lens, but it offers a 35x optical zoom for tons of distance flexibility without digital degradation; plus, it looks and feels like a DSLR so you’ll get used to that functionality before diving into the more intermediate market. This particular bundle is great for starters as it comes with a 16GB SD card for storing your photos, an SD card reader for interfacing with your computer, rechargeable batteries, a holster camera bag, a cleaning kit and even a lens pen.

Best Action Cam: SJCam’s Legend SJ6 Action Camera

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SJCam’s Legend SJ6 Action Camera is the ideal purchase to make sure you never miss a moment no matter where you are on Earth, no matter the conditions. Featuring gyro stabilization, slow-motion recording, a metal body for durability and an external microphone for increased audio capturing, the SJ6 is an action camera that’s made for being right in the thick of any activity. The camera offers a F/2.5 aperture and a 16-megapixel sensor that captures a wide 166-degree viewing angle. Images and video can be previewed on the two-inch touchscreen, while the .96-inch front display offers quick access to a timer. Beyond photography, the SJ6 captures 1080p video at either 60 or 30fps, as well as 720p video at 120 or 60fps. An external storage card up to 32GB can boost the available memory for keeping captured video on the SJ6 before it’s moved off to another device. The 1000mAh battery offers around 65 minutes of battery life at 60fps and 113 minutes of video capture at 30fps. And the included waterproof case allows the SJ6 to go below water up to 100 feet for 30 minutes.

Interested in reading more reviews? Take a look at our selection of the best action cameras.

Courtesy of: Lifewire


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Photography Basics for Noobs | Beginner Guide

How to Photograph Snow

By Christopher O'Donnell

Photographing snow has its own set of unique rules. The reflective ability of the individual flakes make it an interesting subject to shoot – not to mention all the fun things you can do with your shutter speed. Combine that with the high-contrast scenes snow can provide and you have a subject with unlimited potential.
Adjusting Your Focal Length
The focal length you choose can impact your image greatly depending on the kind of effect you’re going for. Longer focal lengths have the ability to compact a scene, which works great for falling snow as it can give you a very layered look with differently-sized snowflakes. If there are only flurries falling from the sky and you're trying to capture many snowflakes, a long focal length will work well as you can compact a large distance into your image – flakes that are five, ten, or even a hundred feet away can be visible.

Photo by Christopher O'Donnell

This image was taken at f/4 with a focal length of 300mm. There must have been at least 75 feet in between my camera and the background of this image. The snow was falling very lightly, yet I was able to capture a wide array of snowflakes – from those in focus to those many out-of-focus bokeh flakes.
Alternatively, a very wide focal length will exaggerate your distances, which is great when you want to encapsulate more of your surroundings. In terms of snowfall, it will need to be falling rapidly to get a layered look – when executed well, the result is a stunning blanket of white.

Photo by margolove

Aperture
Of course, aperture has a role to play here as well. The wider you go, more snowflakes will be out of focus. If you’re going for snowfall bokeh (sno-keh), this is a great way to create a soft and pleasing atmosphere.
Going back to my first image taken at 300mm, if I used a very small aperture (like say f/16), I’d get more snowflakes in focus instead of that out of focus bokeh. However, that means that the tree line in the background would be more in focus as well and I’d lose that softness – my snowflakes wouldn’t stand out as much as they would now be blended into the trees. Also, my shutter speed would slow down which would blur the snowflakes as streaks. So there are certainly a few things to consider, and finding the right balance between your settings is very important to create the image you want.
Also remember that sunlight combined with a wide aperture can create a beautiful bokeh background.

Photo by **Aina**

Photo by Caro Wallis

Small apertures work particularly well during blizzards as you can capture near white-out conditions. However, keep your shutter speed in mind as deep depths of field will slow it down and could possibly blur your snowfall, like in the image below. Depending on what you’re going for, you may need to bump up your ISO.

Photo by aurelio.asiain

Shutter Speed
As I touched on briefly in the last section, your shutter speed can greatly affect your snowfall photography – just like with any moving subject. When using a long exposure, you can create an image with streaks rather than flakes, like in the photo below.
However, a fast shutter speed can freeze the action, giving you an image sprinkled with flakes.

Photo by Christopher O'Donnell

Overcast Lighting vs. Sunlight
Sun and snow pose a particularly problematic combination for your light meter as sun can reflect off of snow in an overpowering way. That’s not to say you should never take photos of snow when the sun is out, but rather watch your histogram for blown highlights, or auto-bracket your image and do some HDR work.

Photo by Christopher O'Donnell

This HDR image combined three different exposures. If you’re looking for a high-contrast image, then the white snow combined with a winter sun will give you a stunning photograph.
Alternatively, snow can be captured well during overcast days as the lack of harsh sunlight allows you to photograph a scene without a spastic light meter. Personally I like photographing snow during cloudy days – especially black and white images – as it provides a moody sky to compliment the starkness of winter.

Photo by Christopher O'Donnell

Snow provides you with many options for shooting awe-inspiring images – you don't have to wait for the “right” conditions. Instead, go out and tailor your technique to the environment and come back with something beautiful.

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How to Photograph Sunsets: 10 Tips for the Perfect Shot

By Ritesh Saini

We all love capturing sunsets. Not surprisingly, photographs of sunsets (including sunrise, for that matter) constitute a big portion of the photographs made around the world every day. Sunsets have a characteristic dynamism, but they are immensely pleasant at the same time, evoking feelings of peace and tranquility. Here are some tips to help you get that perfect sunset shot.

When Heaven Bends To Kiss.. by PRAVEEN VENUGOPAL, on Flickr

1. Reach the location in time

After you have scouted for a good location for photographing the sunset, reach the location well before the sunset hour. This way you can choose good vantage points from where to capture the scene and also look for interesting subjects to include in your photographs. Also keep a tripod handy.

2. Photograph in the Golden Hour

The first and last hour of sunlight is called the Golden Hour. It is the most desirable time to photograph a sunset because the scene has a beautiful, golden glow and the sky is vibrant with different shades of colors. Photographing during the Blue Hour (the hour after the sunset, when the sky is rendered blue in the photos upon underexposure) extends your window of opportunity if you wish to utilize more time to photograph the scene.

end of the day by paul bica, on Flickr

3. Choose the Correct White Balance

To enhance the characteristic warmth of a sunset scene in your image, avoid using the Auto White Balance. Choose ‘Cloudy’ or ‘Shade’ setting, and faithfully reproduce the original colors and even enhance them to your liking. If you wish to use a custom Kelvin temperature for the White Balance, be sure to use something higher than 5500. The higher the color temperature setting, the ‘warmer’ your photograph will feel. (Of course, if you shoot RAW, you can adjust white balance in post production, but it's good form to get as much right in the camera as possible).

4. Shoot in RAW

To be able to capture the light and the dark areas in the scene that are typical of sunset scenes, do photograph in RAW. It also serves to help you in post-processing in case you need to recover details in highlight or shadow regions of the shot. Also, use exposure bracketing if you are only shooting in JPEG to allow yourself an option to decide which exposure works best for you.

World's Favorite Sport by vramak, on Flickr

5. Pay attention to the composition

Utilize the Rule of Thirds as a guideline. Place the horizon along one of the two horizontal lines dividing the scene in three equal parts, keeping the horizon perfectly straight. Create a center of interest for your photograph by looking out for interesting elements to include in the shot. It could be anything from people to animals to trees. Try to capture a story by including a dynamic activity of some sort.

6. Boost the Depth-of-Field

Because sunset scenes typically contain elements from near foreground to a far background, you would want to maximize the depth-of-field to keep everything in sharp focus. Use a narrow aperture and focus at the hyperfocal distance to get everything from foreground to background in focus.

Sunset by snowpeak, on Flickr

7. Utilize silhouettes and reflections

Silhouettes add another dimension to an otherwise empty frame. They also help in emphasizing color in the shot. Include interesting silhouettes in your photograph to add a context to the scene. If you are photographing the sunset along a beach or a river, you can include reflections in your image and make them echo the vibrant colors of the sky.

8. Experiment with the zoom

You can shoot with a wide angle lens, or make use of zoom. By photographing at the telephoto end and including the sun in the photo, you can give it a more prominent role and make it appear larger. On the other hand, you can choose to shoot at the wide end to emphasize the grandness of the scene by including more of the scene in the shot. Play with both.

Creative independence by nattu, on Flickr

9. Change your vantage point

Sunsets are among the most popular subjects for photography. To lend a personal touch to your sunset photos and create unique shots, you need to go a step further. Find a different vantage point. Changing your location to a new one that is just a few steps away can sometimes completely change the composition of your shot. Explore all perspectives, and ask yourself which ones work for you.

10. Be quick!

When photographing sunsets, you don’t usually have too much time before the sun goes down. You have to be quick and move around to photograph everything that you planned. Be aware of your surroundings and always keep your camera ready to photograph anything that you think would make an interesting subject in your sunset image. Good luck!

Sunset balloon flight by Axel-D, on Flickr

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How to Photograph Food For Professional-Standard Shots

By Rob Wood

A great food photograph can do a lot of things – it can make a viewer hungry, it can convince a diner to order a dish and it can sell a hell of a lot of food and recipe books. But knowing how to photograph food to get great results requires a specific knowledge of what works best and what looks terrible. We have put together a few things you will need to think about when you photograph food if you want results like you see in glossy magazines and books.

Peach Salad by ralph and jenny, on Flickr

How to Prepare Food for Look, Not Taste – A Short Guide to Food Styling

There are entire books (and careers) devoted to the topic of how to style food for a photography shoot (I don't mean photography, I mean STYLE it for a photographer). The food industry is huge and they understand the importance of great photography in selling their wares. Now, if you're serious about getting great shots (and not so much about just eating the food after the shot) then you need to prepare the food to look its best, not taste its best.  So how do you do that?


Are You Shooting Full-Bodied Food? In photographs, food usually looks best when it is full-bodied (as opposed to “big”). The problem is that often when you take something out of the oven, it usually loses its body in the cool air to a degree. Several photography tricks exist to account for this, but the simple ones are probably the best!

• Shoot the food while it's still very hot and fresh from being cooked.
• Build the dish so it looks full-bodied (sometimes this requires putting things on the plate but under the food to make it look fuller. Sometimes it requires piling the food on other food.)

Think About Colours in Your Dish – Colour is a massive part of good food photography. In a lot of cases you can add garnishes that contrast the colour of the dish which is very effective in adding an element of colour in your photographs. A knowledge of the colour wheel and which colours contrast well and which colours complement well can serve you very well in food photography. Notice the contrasting colours of green, red and white in the photo below and the complimentary colours of the photo below that.

massive attack:live with me by visualpanic, on Flickr

Chai-Kwon-Do by Kris Krug, on Flickr

Styling food also often relies on what is surrounding the dish as what is in the dish itself. Setting up the table and props can be a massive help (or hinderance) to getting a fantastic photograph of the food you are shooting in its own context. Here are a few things to think about.
Your Table Setting Can Make or Break Your Food Photographs – The surroundings that your food appears in are almost as important as the food itself. A well designed setting can give context and mood to your shot so think about it a little. What is in the background and foreground of the food? Do you want to exclude setting altogether and get an extreme close-up of only the food? Are your dishes matched to the colour of the food? Are the surroundings set up to give a balanced composition?
Elements that you would usually find in the context of a meal (condiment holders, cutlery, napkins etc) can be arranged by a stylist to help the composition. Usually you will want these elements to compliment rather than dominate the main subject – the food.
Think About Colours Outside of Your Dish – This goes back to the styling of the scene, but it's very important to consider the colours of the dishes, cutlery, table, table-cloth etc that surround your main subject as they have such an important impact on the end result.
Colours are usually very deliberately set as either contrasting or complimentary. Both can work very effectively.
On the other hand, some colours just don't work with food (light green is very tough to use if you're trying to make the food dish look appetising).

What You Need to Know About Lighting in Food Photography

Perhaps one of the biggest factors that affects the end result of a food photograph is the quality of light. The good news is that because your scene is usually portable you have a fair amount of control over the lighting situation.

• Natural window lighting usually rules the roost in professional food photography. (If you can get natural window lighting on an overcast day, then you're even luckier). The soft, dispersed lighting usually given by natural window lighting that casts very soft shadows works beautifully with a lot of food photographs. Generally the best lighting is from the front side (ie coming over the shoulder of the photographer), but all angles of natural light can be made to work. Depending on how much light is available, you may need to consider a tripod.
• Reflectors – If you want to disperse the light even more or tone down some of the shadows, then reflecting natural lighting is also high on the scale of desirability. This can be done with a purpose-built reflector or you can improvise with light coloured material (white sheets/cloths) or reflective material (foil).
• Artificial Lighting – Sometimes, you're just not going to be able to get in a position to take advantage of natural lighting. Using strobes on food is a huge topic, but suffice to say that you will often need to soften and disperse the light as much as possible with the use of soft-boxes and reflectors.
• Dark Food Photography – a growing trend in some food photography is to go the low light style and a dark setting. This is more about using the dark colours of the food and its background and surroundings in combination with natural window lighting such as in the example below. It is very effective in creating mood. You can see some more amazing examples on Pinterest here.

Sweets 2 by 96dpi, on Flickr

Other Elements of Good Food Photography

Use Depth of Field Deliberately – Another key to effective food photography is knowing how to control your depth of field and doing so deliberately. As you can see with most of the examples in this article, photographers tends to use a shallow depth of field to draw the eye to a specific part of the photo (usually the main piece of food or part of it). Occasionally however, you might wish to close the aperture of your camera to capture a deeper depth of field. Both can work, but be aware of the trend towards narrow depth of field and make your decision on this to suit your own style.
If you are not sure about how to do that, download our free guide to depth of field here.

banana bread by sajia.hall, on Flickr

Pick an Angle – In food photography, there are two common ways of composing basic shots. The first way involves photographing them from directly above the food – either getting a closeup of the food (like the example below) or showing the aerial map of the placement setting.

Quinoa Salad by Geoff Peters, on Flickr

The second common angle is to shoot at an angle from the side so you can include either a foreground or background or both or the entire surrounds of the dish such as the example below. Obviously there are a thousand ways to skin that cat, but the examples on this article should give you a few ideas of the common compositions of food photography.

These little things that make our days by rennes.i, on Flickr

A Few Quick and Easy Tips for Better Food Photography

The following tips are for when you're in a bit of a rush and you just want to bash out a quick, but good food photograph. They are not set in stone by any means and there are plenty of times when you should in fact ignore them. But if you don't have too much time, following these few ideas will usually get you a better food photograph than you would have had otherwise.

1. Move the scene to take advantage of natural window lighting
2. Limit the depth of field with a wide aperture setting (f/1.8 – f/5.6) and focus near the front edge of the food
3. Either zoom right in on the food or arrange your background to give context
4. Look for contrasting coloured garnish and put it on the food (bright colours like green (chives), red (chilli) and white (parmesan) tend to work well
5. Keep the portions smallish so you have a definite center of interest in the photograph
6. Photograph the food while it is as fresh as possible
7. Print your images! It's the ultimate test for photographers. See our article on the best photo printer to see how.

Secret Food Styling Tricks

While there are a few photography tricks to getting great shots, there are also a few quick and easy food styling tricks to make sure the food looks as good as possible before you shoot it. Here are some to keep in mind.

• Anything green (like lettuce leaves) will look greener and fresher by soaking it in ice-water for a few minutes before the shot. Shake them dry before you photograph them.
• Brush some oil on hot food to make it look fresher for the photograph, especially if it has been sitting around for a while
• Don't put too much dressing on salad for photographs – it makes the salad look limp.
• Fresh is best – for both taste and looks.
• Undercook the food – it looks fresher and brighter for the photograph.
• Make sure the plates and settings are really clean – spots of errant food on the tablecloth or where it shouldn't be can ruin a photo.

 

 

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How to Capture Striking Silhouettes in 7 Easy Steps (With 10 Stunning Examples)

By Jason D. Little

Photographers exert an awful lot of time and anxious energy fretting over how to light a subject; specifically, we all tend to fear shadows. Harsh shadows can ruin nearly any photograph. Whether it’s a portrait, a macro, or a product shot, the aim is typically soft, even lighting.
The fact is, however, we all need a break from the norm; we need to take advantage of opportunities to do things a different way. Those beautifully lit portraits that you’re obsessed with are important; they may even be the staple of your photographic repertoire, but there is another way to think about lighting — a way that is, perhaps, counter-intuitive but one that can be equally, if not more, evocative as any “perfectly” lit shot.

air time by sean, on Flickr

Portrait photographers know of rembrandt lighting, split lighting, butterfly lighting, all styles of lighting designed to light the front of the subject. But what about backlighting?

The Beauty of a Silhouette
A silhouette: that dark, featureless subject outlined against a bright background — is a photographic phenomenon created by backlighting. A photographic phenomenon that is capable of conveying mood, drama, mystery, and emotion in ways unmatched by more conventional styles of portraiture. Silhouettes are incredibly simple in form, yet they possess a great deal of aesthetic and atmospheric power, and they impart that power to the viewer by giving us the freedom to further use our imagination as we interpret those images.
Fortunately, silhouettes are also relatively easy to create. The tips that follow will help you get started.

Progress by kevin dooley, on Flickr

How to Photograph Silhouettes

1. Choose a Suitable Subject – “Suitable” is admittedly a rather open-ended term; indeed, anything can be made into a silhouette. But you will find that some things work better than others. Bold, distinctly shaped forms separated from their surroundings tend to work best.
2. Set Up Your Lighting – If you’re using natural light — the sun — then there’s actually nothing to set up here. Your flash is useless in this capacity; in fact, all that stuff you learned previously in your photography education about how to light a subject is off the table. The goal is to put the light completely behind your subject. You don’t want any light falling on their frontside. The very best way to go about this is to position your subject in front of a rising or setting sun. Using the sun isn’t an absolute must, however; any light source that is large enough and bright enough will do…which means you can use a flash or two. Just set them up behind your subject.
3. Pose Your Subject and Frame the Shot – If you’re working with a person, be sure to pose them in an open area or in such a way that doesn’t cause them to blend in with surrounding objects. Furthermore, try to avoid photographing people straight-on; instead, photograph their profile. This will make their features more distinct, more recognizable.

We will stay forever by Kamal Zharif, on Flickr

4. Prepare Your Camera for the Shot – Shooting in manual mode is the ideal method of creating a silhouette. Again, you will probably find that the process goes against the grain of what you’re used to as you expose for the background and not the subject. Quite simply, this is how you get a dark foreground and a bright background — a silhouetted image. If you find that light is spilling over onto the front of your subject, just underexpose the background a bit and your subject will become increasingly darker.

You can accomplish this in auto mode as well. The trick is to keep the camera from doing what it tends to do so well: metering a scene for even lighting. To prevent this, point your camera at the brightest portion of the sky and press the shutter button half way to initiate the metering process. Then, with your finger still on the shutter button, move the camera back to your subject and take the shot. This method works the majority of the time, but if you want to be a bit more precise you should use “spot metering” if your camera possess that feature. Spot metering will allow you to meter for a very specific part of the frame (the background in this instance), thereby increasing the accuracy of your desired exposure.

Colombian Training Ship ARC “Gloria” by Luz Adriana Villa A., on Flickr

Either approach can lead to successful silhouettes. Use the one that you’re most comfortable with or whichever works out best for you. Given that all you’ve got is a memory card to erase as opposed to rolls of film to buy, you can experiment as much as you want or need to.

5. Focus – The subject needs to be in sharp focus in order for your silhouette to have definition. How to get the subject in focus may not be so straightforward considering the metering steps discussed above. The camera will have to focus on the background in order to take a meter reading, which means that focus won’t be accurate when you move back to your subject. There are a couple of ways to tackle this problem:

• Use manual focus to re-focus on your subject after you’ve metered the shot, or pre-focus before you meter.
• Set a small aperture (larger f-number, f/8 or f/11, for example) to increase depth of field, which will increase the odds that your subject is clearly defined.

6. Post Processing – As always, what you do in this phase is entirely up to you. It’s likely, however, that you will want to boost shadows, blacks, contrast, and clarity; these adjustments will help define the subject more clearly. A small bump to vibrance and saturation might be useful as well, just to add some pop to the background, especially if the background is a colorful sunrise or sunset.

Hut Sunrise – Hello from Kish Island by Hamed Saber, on Flickr

7. Optional Tools – Making a silhouette really only requires your camera, your subject, and a bright background. But if you happen to be working in a particularly low light situation where a slow shutter speed is necessary, then a tripod will certainly come in handy. And, if you like, you can use a circular polarizer to create more contrast and saturation for the background.

portal zone, another dimension by Paulo Brandão, on Flickr

Conclusion

While the basic process will remain the same, your specific camera settings will probably be different for each silhouette you shoot because subject and lighting conditions won’t be identical on each occasion; so again, we see the luxury that digital photography has afforded us — we can adapt and experiment with no limits.
As you begin to think about and prepare for shooting shooting silhouettes of your own, I’ll leave you with some images to inspire you.

Waiting to board by The U.S. Army, on Flickr

young photographer by muha…, on Flickr

World's Favorite Sport by vramak, on Flickr

Royal Ride in the Golden Sand by girish_suryawanshi, on Flickr

Twilight Friends! | Explored by VinothChandar, on Flickr

Color of Night by jDevaun, on Flickr

A Black Sun by | Tico| tmf photography, on Flickr

Dance When No One's Watching – Bokeh + Silhouette by vramak, on Flickr

Untitled by Thomas Leuthard, on Flickr

Wedding Silhouette by Sainaa|photography, on Flickr

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The Exposure Triangle and How it Affects Your Photos

By Rob Wood

Getting a new DSLR can be quite an overwhelming experience for a new photographer. All the knobs and buttons seem to do a thousand different things (and they do), but the dirty secret of photography is that at its core, knowledge of the exposure triangle is what will make your new DSLR really sing. If you know how the exposure triangle works, then you essentially know the basics of how your photographs will turn out and you can build your skills with the manual functions of your camera from that solid basis.

123.365 Beam Me Up by ReillyButler, on Flickr

The biggest benefit of having an advanced DSLR is that they allow manual control over most elements of the photographic process in terms of what's happening in the camera. But having that control means that it is of great benefit if you know what elements you need to control and what they do. Let's take a look at the three absolute essentials that make up the exposure triangle – ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture.

ISO – In film cameras, the ISO refers to how sensitive the film is to light. In a DSLR the same concept applies, but it refers to the sensor setting instead of film. Basically, the lower the ISO number, then the less sensitive it is to light. If you are out photographing things in the bright midday sun, then you will probably want to use the lowest setting available (probably ISO 100 or 200). Conversely if you are photographing poorly lit scenes then higher ISO settings are in order. Just remember than the higher ISO settings often bring the problem of digital noise (unwanted speckles and spots in your images). Usually the top end DSLRs are better at handling noise problems at higher ISO settings.
Shutter Speed – This one is fairly self-explanatory. Shutter speed simply refers to the amount of time that the shutter on the camera opens for when you take a shot. A shorter shutter speed will result in less light hitting the sensor and will have the effect of “freezing” motion. A longer shutter speed will allow more light to hit the sensor and any movement in the scene will appear blurred in the direction it was moving (“motion blur”) which can often be a desirable effect depending on what you are trying to achieve. Each shutter speed setting doubles (or halves) the speed compared to the next setting. Don't forget to check out our beginner's guide to shutter speed priority mode on your camera.

Motion blur by themonnie, on Flickr

Aperture – This refers to the size of the opening in the lens that lets light hit the sensor. Wider apertures obviously allow more light in and narrower allow less light in. The size of the opening is measured as f/1.4, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6,f/8, f/16, f/22 etc (commonly referred to as “f stops”). The small the number, the larger the opening and each “stop” up from there effectively halves the size of the opening (and thus the amount of light entering the camera). Aperture also allows you to control depth of field. Also, check out our beginner's guide to aperture priority mode on your camera.

seaching depth of field by musumemiyuki, on Flickr

How Does That Work in Practice?
The three elements of the exposure triangle interact together. For example, reducing the shutter speed by a stop (increased light) and narrowing the aperture by a stop (decreased light) will result in an identical exposure. However it may result in motion blur (due to decreased shutter speed) or deeper depth of field (due to narrower aperture).
Together, ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture are collectively referred to as the exposure triangle. This is probably one of the most important technical concepts you can know in photography and it's worth sitting down to learn (and standing up to practice) if you'd like to know how to use that shiny new DSLR (or any other camera, for that matter) to its potential.