Portrait Posing Tips- How to Help People to Relax and Take Better Photos

By: Simon Ringsmuth

Editor’s note: this week we will be featuring a series of articles on posing for portraits. Look for a new one each day. If you miss any make sure you subscribe to our newsletter and you’ll get a reminder of all our articles once a week.
One of the trickiest parts of doing a portrait photo shoot has nothing to do with operating your camera, mastering your lenses, controlling the light, or even dealing with uncontrollable weather. Getting your clients to relax, take it easy, and enjoy themselves during your time with them is just as important as making sure you have all the technical aspects of your equipment figured out.
This is often the key to a successful photo shoot, and yet it’s so easy to get caught up in learning about your camera equipment and buying new gear that many people forget to invest time in developing the human element of a photo session. Portrait posing and how to help your subjects relax is key to taking better people photos.

If this aspect of your craft is not managed properly you could easily find yourself in the middle of a photo session where your clients are confused, agitated, bored, or worst of all, frustrated and angry. Every photographer has their own unique style, but generally speaking if you can get your subjects to get comfortable and relax, you can get more of the photos you (and they) are really looking for. It’s a tricky situation to be sure, and every photo shoot is different, but here are three techniques that may be helpful:

1. Get to know your clients beforehand

At its most basic level taking photos for clients is a simple business transaction wherein they pay you money for a service you provide. But it’s really much more than that: people are inviting you to record a point in their lives that they will hold dear for decades to come. When you order a sandwich or cup of coffee it doesn’t matter who you are, what hobbies you enjoy, what professional goals you have, or whether you woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. You hand over some cash, get what you ordered, and go about your day. However, taking portraits is almost the polar opposite because everything matters. A good portrait photographer will strive to capture the essence of the people they are working with, and getting to know them first is a key element of making this happen.

On my website I have three simple questions on my Contact page:

1. Families: What was the best family vacation you ever went on?
2. Children: If you could have the perfect birthday party, what would it be like?
3. High School Seniors: If you had $1000 to spend, and a week off from school, what would you do?

The answers to these questions help me understand more about my potential clients, but also send a message to them that they mean more to their photographer than just a pay-check. This helps with any pre-session discussions we might have, as well as the photo shoot itself, because the seeds have already been sown for good conversation and a relaxed atmosphere.
I’m a teacher by trade, having taught in K-12 schools as well as at the college level (in addition to six-week classes for other teachers), and one common thread that I have found among people of all ages, is that most of them just want someone who will listen to and take an interest in them. With this foundation laid, classes are always much more productive for me and my students. So it goes for the photographer as well: if you show your clients that you are interested in them as people, you will find them to be much more cooperative as photography subjects. It might take some time to get to know them before you photograph them, but this will pay off handsomely for you and your clients throughout the entire picture-taking experience.

2. Don’t treat the photo shoot like a photo shoot

I did a photo session recently for a bright, intelligent, outgoing young man who simply did not want to have his picture taken. He was nearing the end of his time in high school and his parents wanted to get some nice photographs before graduation, particularly of him in his cap and gown. He would much rather have been at home playing video games or hanging out with friends, but instead was obliged to spend the late afternoon with me taking photos – a prospect that was about as much fun for him as getting a tooth drilled. How on earth can you possibly get someone like this to relax, have fun, and enjoy a photo shoot? Simple: don’t make it about the photos.
One of the first things I said to this student as I hoisted my camera bag to my shoulder was “What video games are you playing right now?” He immediately relaxed and started telling me about one of his current favorites, which then branched into discussion of what his friends were playing, which then led to a dialogue about the recent school year and even his career goals. All the while I was snapping photos, while giving him subtle directions without interrupting the flow of our conversation. I got more good shots than I ever thought I would, and he enjoyed our time together far more than he had anticipated.

This girl was a bit nervous about having her picture taken so instead we just talked about music. I 

don’t know much about the clarinet, but she was more than happy to tell me about it, and in the 

process gave me plenty of good photo opportunities.

This is just one example, but I have seen the same scenario repeat itself over and over: people tend get nervous and self-conscious when getting their photos taken, so if you want them to relax, have fun, and enjoy the photo shoot, try treating it as an hour of just hanging out. They’ll enjoy it much more and you’ll be surprised at the nice results you can get.

3. Build long-term relationships

When you order a pizza or pick up a tool from the hardware store you’re not looking for any type of lasting personal commitment. It’s merely a simple business transaction that serves a functional purpose, whereas photography is quite the opposite. Because you are dealing with people, and not objects, you should not only get to know your clients and seek to build a rapport with them, but find ways to build a professional relationship with them after money and pictures have changed hands. This won’t necessarily improve a current photo session, but it will pave the way for many successful future sessions while also helping to spread the word to the client’s friends, family, and co-workers about your photography services. A few ideas to try include:

Send a real thank you card

Send a thank-you card to the client (not an email, but a physical handwritten card) a few weeks after they receive their photos. Let them know how much you enjoyed working with them and appreciated their business, which is a good way to build a positive professional relationship that will last for years to come, and help make future photo sessions much more relaxed and enjoyable. You can also slip in a discount for a future photo session, which will give them even more incentive to do business with you again. This is especially important if you work with children or families, as you can easily lay the groundwork for many years of photo sessions by letting them know how much you appreciate them and enjoy working with them.

This boy’s parents had such a positive experience on his photo shoot that they asked me to take 

pictures for their whole family a few months later.

Post about the session on social media

As more clients share their lives online, you can take advantage of the medium to publicly say how much you enjoyed working with a particular client, how good the photos turned out, or how you are already looking forward to a future session. Clients often respond quite positively, and this type of public recognition helps to reaffirm their good opinion of you as a photographer. Note that you will want to get your client’s permission first, and posting about a client on Facebook is not the same as friending a client. I don’t necessarily recommend that, though I know several photographers who do.

Scratch their back, and they’ll scratch yours

Many of your clients (or their parents) are working professionals and would appreciate your patronage as much as you like to have theirs. Remember the father of the cute kid from last week’s session who is a local plumber? Give him a call the next time your sink overflows. What about the upcoming wedding shoot with the couple who owns a local deli? Take your family there the next time you go out to eat. Building these types of professional relationships is a good way to help ensure that future photo sessions are relaxed and comfortable for your clients. They will start to trust you, be at ease around you, take directions from you, and also recommend you to their friends and family. This also sends the message that you are interested in more than just taking pictures, but are an active and supportive member of your local community, which is filled with people who might be looking for a photographer to do their next portrait session!

Getting to know this family, finding out about their interests, and building on experiences from 

previous photo shoots helped make this session fun and enjoyable for them and much easier for me 

as a result. The children knew me from their photo session earlier in the year, which not only helped 

them relax but put the adults at ease too.

These are just three ways to help you get people to relax in your photo sessions, but there are many other ideas as well. What about you? What tips and tricks have you learned over the years to help your clients relax, enjoy themselves, and help you get the best shots you can? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Share this article.

Photography Tutorial: ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed

5 Tips to Help Build Your Confidence in Photography

By: Branson Quenzer 

Think of your last bad day of photography, a time where you just blew a whole batch of portraits, or even a couple’s wedding day images were spoiled. As photographers you can’t go back and fix that. Yes if you use RAW, you can get some info back from under or over exposed shots, and editing tools these days can be incredibly useful. But, when you spend more time behind the computer than with you camera it can be a real confidence buster. It may even be taking away from future business, if not your enjoyment of photography.
So how do you build your confidence?

These DPRK soldiers show confidence and loyalty guarding the DMZ and the 38th parallel of Korea. 

The soldiers at Buckingham Palace don’t flinch, and that takes practice.

Having confidence exudes confidence, but where does real confidence come from. Well it doesn’t just come from nowhere, that is often called arrogance. It comes from the awareness of your emotional state relative to your cognitive abilities.
If you use your emotions to create, you are being confident. If your emotions are overwhelming you during your shot or photo series, you are likely under-confident. By the book, you may know everything there is to know about the exposure triangle, rule of thirds, color theory, etc., but when you are actually shooting do they do more to help, or do they hinder you?
Confidence is a delicate balance between what you know, and how well you are capable of performing. So let’s look at a couple of examples and analogies to help build your confidence as a photographer.

#1 – Confidence isn’t always consistent

Real confidence is never consistent, and has its slumps. Professional sports is a great example, even superstars have an off night.
So when you have an off night, remember another night is just 12 hours away. If it is the morning, it is still 12 hours away. Even a broken clock is correct twice a day, so don’t beat yourself up. In the short run you may have really blown a photo shoot, or missed the animal of your dreams because you were not being conscious about your settings, or you were simply absent minded. But that is the short term, and as long as you get right back out there, the better off you are going to be.
The best of the best all fail, but what keeps them on top of their game is the arduous task of owning up to being human, and going out to find a solution to your goof. In the long run, they will be memories that you get to look back on with a laugh.

Baseball is a national pastime in Cuba. Although it was my first time shooting baseball in the barrios 

of Havana, it wasn’t my first time shooting it.

#2 – Learn from your mistakes

Few people are perfect photographers from birth. Generally, talent comes through sweat, tears, and sometimes even blood. If you make mistakes you can learn from them. Confidence has a conspiracy with failure. So take two steps forward, and one step back. Stay committed, and speaking of commitment and blood, I am not the only photographer who has taken a tumble, and when people ask you if you are okay, you respond with, “Yes the camera is fine”, while your knees and elbow are bleeding.

Continuing with the baseball theme, after striking out, it only took one big swing to make the winning 

home run. Don’t give up, live, learn and keep swinging for the fences.

#3 – Be vulnerable

Enter a photo contest, and don’t expect to win. It is a final process of completing the photography and artistic conceptual circle. Letting your photo hang on a wall, while others look at it, even for a few minutes, is a scary prospect for some. But think of leaving your freshly baked pie on the dinner table, and just looking at it. We don’t do that with food, nor should we do that with our photography.
People will love it, like it, dislike it, or downright hate it, but that doesn’t mean you are wrong. It means you have succeeded in making the photography world just a little more interesting. You also never know who you will inspire. Your vulnerability will soon become a strength that will help build your confidence.

After years of holding on to this photo, I finally entered it into a regional photography competition. It 

got in, and although I was not a recipient of anything, another gallery called a month later and wanted 

to host my work for a show.

#4 – Learn from others BUT don’t compare yourself to them

There is a world of knowledge available, and many people who you can learn from. Use them, ask them questions, share ideas – but don’t compare yourself to them. Generally when you compare your own work to others, it may leave you with a sense of there’s more to be desired, and a sense of failure. So learn from their perspectives, their tutorials, and their stories, but don’t get caught up in who is better.
A happy photographer is the best photographer. Furthermore, over time you will begin to see the merits in some of your earlier experimental work. Perfection is not the goal, it is the journey to becoming a more enriching photographer.

This Magnolia opening in spring was taken in full sunlight. I saw a series of flowers on a photo stream, and realized I had not taken a photo of something beautiful in a long time. This helped me learn to see, and if our images were side by side, I am sure theirs was better. But I enjoyed doing something different than what I normally shoot.

#5 – Avoid gear envy

There will always be something bigger and better, wait another year and the next new version will be out. So don’t get intimidated by other photographers’ gear, and more importantly don’t let your photos depend on your gear. Think of it as a challenge.

Taken with a 50mm, manual focus lens from my father’s box of forgotten things, that I found 

rummaging through his old stuff. Lenses and cameras are fun to have, and fun to buy, but they don’t 

make the photo.

A small trick I use when the next new thing comes out, and I get in that spiral of getting all gear-junkie about it is to look at some of the classic photographers from 100 years ago or read up on some color theory. This gets me back to the basics, try it yourself.
So if you realize that every showing will not be your best, you can get over thinking that your gear dictates the success and failure of your photos, if you can start to learn from your mistakes, and begin to hang photos on a wall – then guess what? Your confidence will begin to grow, you will have more control (and more power) over photography (situations, light, camera gear, etc.). As your confidence grows it builds and builds on itself.

The next six areas are examples of how confidence will help you in that style of photography. Part one is developing confidence, and part two is a set of examples of how confidence can help in different situations.

How confidence can help you take better photos

In portraiture, confidence helps you connect with, and calm your subject, to bring out their inner spirit. There is little worse than a nervous model and a nervous photographer. Even if you are not 100% sure what you’re doing, show confidence, take your time, and slowly adjust your settings to get things closer to your ideas. Try and keep from getting frustrated and making large adjustments wildly to your gear.

This young girl in North Korea had never seen an American before, but after me keeping my cool she 

was much more approachable.

In wildlife photography, confidence lets you trust your gut, and get in the right place at the right time. Luck is important, but perseverance will ultimately lead to success. Having confidence will give you the extra optimism to keep you going, as you wait patiently.

On a long road trip from east to west across the US, I hadn’t run into any large animals. In Wyoming I 

decided to go for another shot at an indiscrete state park, and there were buffalo everywhere.

In travel photography, confidence helps you see beyond the postcard shot. Confidence allows you to see your journey, not the one that is in the travel books. It helps you see the subtleties, and personalize your travel story, rather than trying to just take the photo that everyone else wants you to take.

This sassy little Cuban was just parading on her porch. I walked by without grabbing my camera, then 

discreetly turned around and caught her exuding luxury, Cuban style.

In fine art photography, confidence will allow your creative side to flow. It will allow you to access what is sometimes referred to in sports as “being in the zone.” This zone, or flow is your brilliance at its best, and confidence supports your ambitions as an artist.

One of my favorite images from India, where cricket matches were being played. Using multiple exposures, then giving it a symmetrical clone, I produced something that I cherish. Maybe only you like your photo, but that is what being true to yourself is all about.
In bad weather confidence helps you see the silver lining. For all types of photography we rely on light. A great source of light is outdoors, and when that golden hour turns to wind and rain you have a choice – pack up and go, or think outside the box. Confidence helps you control your surroundings, even when they are out of control, so you can begin to work within them, and use them to your advantage.

I can’t say that the weather was bad here, but the timing was. I was just getting to a ghetto outside of San Jose, Costa Rica at night. I wanted to get in and out before I felt compromised, unsafe. So regardless of if it’s bad weather, or bad timing, confidence can help you to push through.
In tough times confidence gives you the grit to continue. Really, this is what a lot of photography comes down to – do you have the gumption to get up early for sunrise, or not? Can you give a genuine smile to your client, even when you are not having the best day? Can you be satisfied with the gear you have, and not think about the next lens you want to get? Can you be the best photographer you can be?

Symbolically this Burmese woman has had a few more tough times than I have. Confidence in
photography will help you put things into perspective.

Confidence is hard to gain and can take years to attain. It is a process, and is easier for some than others. But if you work at it, it will build. Just as you work on other aspects of your photography, your emotions need work to. Confidence is an emotion, so practice with your feelings, and let them grow alongside the cerebral aspects of photography. Be mindful of your emotions, not fearful of them.
Do you have any other confidence building tips? If so, please share them in the comments below.

Share this article.

How to Make Sure You Use Your New Camera

By: Simon Ringsmuth

Raise your hand if this scenario sounds familiar: you get a new camera, possibly as a gift, and immediately your mind leaps with excitement at all the photographic possibilities that await. You quickly start taking photos of everything around you; houseplants, food, pets, your kids, the trees in your yard, even mundane objects like cookware, or office trinkets. You just can’t wait to get your new camera and kit lens off the shelf and shoot photos of everything.
But after a week or two the lustre wears off, and your camera starts spending more time in your closet than in your hands. You find yourself too distracted, too uninspired, or worst of all, too busy to take photos. Every now and then you pick up your camera, put it in Auto mode, and take a few interesting pictures – but sooner or later your camera, which initially held such wonderful photographic possibilities, spends most of its time tucked away, only to be pulled out on special occasions when you really need some good photos.

If that rings a bell it’s because almost everyone interested in photography goes through a similar phase at some point. Thankfully there’s hope! I’ve been in this same situation, as have many other people I know. So, here are some tips that will help you get your camera out more often, so you can start learning and growing as a photographer.

Take your camera with you

This may seem obvious, but it’s an important step that many new camera owners overlook. Your fancy DSLR or mirrorless camera doesn’t have to be just for special occasions, it can be for anything you want. The important thing is that you have it with you to take pictures.
Basically, if you don’t want your camera to end up collecting dust on a shelf, don’t let it sit and collect dust on a shelf. Going to work? Grab your camera. Heading to a friend’s house? Take your camera. Taking a walk? By all means, bring your camera. Of course you’re going to bring your camera to events like your kid’s baseball game or your friend’s graduation, but using it only in those circumstances often leads to camera atrophy.

This shot was a complete accident. It was not planned at all, and I only got it because I had my camera 

with me when I was out for a walk.

The famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky once quipped, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”, and the same holds true for photographers. The only way you’ll ever start taking more pictures, and thus growing as a photographer, is if you start taking more pictures. And you can’t do that if you don’t have your camera.
I take mine with me to work every day, and even though I have a similar daily commute and work routine, I constantly find myself looking for new shots to take, and new ideas for photography. If you are worried about breaking your camera, buy a cheap bag or a better carrying strap. If you’re a bit self-conscious of what people may think if they always see you with your camera, just tell them you’re trying to learn more, and get better as a photographer. It might seem kind of weird at first to take your camera with you wherever you go, but that will likely pass (it has for me, and for others I know) as you start to discover the joyful serendipity that’s inherent in documenting the world around you with a camera that’s leaps and bounds better than the one in your mobile phone.

Join a photography community

In the movie Office Space, the protagonist, a twenty-something chump named Peter Gibbons, tells a pair of consultants why he has so much trouble doing his job. “It’s a problem of motivation,” he casually explains, as the three of them discuss his low work performance, and what can be done about it. Photographers, especially new ones with recently-acquired gear from the holidays, often suffer from the same problem. They are highly motivated to take pictures and use their cameras, but when the rigours of their daily life set in, they lose the motivation they once had. One solution is to join a group, whether online or face to face, of fellow photographers and enthusiasts.

Photography communities have been invaluable to me as a source of knowledge and inspiration.

Being a part of a photography community offers all sorts of benefits. You can get answers to questions, get help with your camera, share your own experiences with others, go on photo walks, engage in photo critiques, and get to hang out with a lot of really fun people. If you live in a small town like I do, you may not have a group that you can join in person, but there are many online forums that offer similar experiences. DPS has an extensive set of r/photography forum is a fantastic source of news, information, discussion, and education.
I could go on and on, but the point is that joining some type of photography community will not only help motivate you to take more photos and grow as a photographer, it will also help you meet a lot of new and interesting people who share a similar passion for taking pictures.

I don’t know anything about astrophotography, but asking about it in photography communities taught me enough to get this composite shot of a recent lunar eclipse.

Do a Weekly Photo Assignment

Many churches, businesses, and support groups use the concept of accountability partners; people with whom you develop a personal relationship in order to keep each other on the straight and narrow path. Photographers can benefit from this type of accountability as well by taking part in weekly photo assignments, essentially ensuring that you always have a reason to go out and take pictures. DPS has a weekly photography challenge, but there are lots of other weekly challenges you can find online as well.
While the goal is not to create a one-on-one relationship of support and trust, just knowing that you have an assignment to take pictures each week can go a long way towards helping you use your camera more often. In doing so, you will learn more about your equipment, but also grow as a photographer as you try new things, and get exposed to ideas for pictures you would have never otherwise considered.

Doing weekly photo assignments has forced me to look for picture opportunities where I would have 

never otherwise seen them.

Notice that I said weekly and not daily, and there’s a reason for this. Photography burnout is a very real problem especially for new photographers, and doing a daily challenge or assignment can be fun at first, but often gets more than a bit overwhelming. I know several people who have actually stopped taking photos because of a daily challenge. They felt like they were failures because they could not meet the requirements of taking pictures every single day, and that in turn led them to stop taking pictures altogether.
Monthly challenges are nice, and will not usually overwhelm you, but they are (in my opinion) a bit too infrequent to be sufficiently challenging or motivating. Weekly photo assignments seem to hit the sweet spot, and can be a fantastic way to help ensure you get a lot more use out of your camera.

If you do a weekly assignment for a while and don’t feel as though it offers enough of a challenge, then by all means start doing daily photo projects. Alternatively, if you find that you can’t meet the demands of a weekly photo, then go down to one a month. The point of these is to hold yourself accountable for using your camera more often, to improve your skills over time, and a weekly assignment is a fantastic place to start.

Never let the value of your photos be determined by others

This final rule is more of a word of caution to new photographers – do not fall into the trap that likes or shares on social media equates to quality images. Use your camera to take photos that are interesting for you, not for others. Find ways of expressing yourself, capturing emotions, telling a story, or presenting a scene through photography, not with the purpose of getting likes on Instagram or Facebook, but simply because it’s something you personally enjoy.
The problem with chasing after likes and shares is that there’s simply never enough. Initially you might be thrilled to have a dozen, but soon you’ll want more. After a little while you’ll be thrilled to have 100 likes, but then you might wonder why your friend got 200 on a picture that you think is clearly subpar. One of your photos gets shared a hundred times, or you post an image that gets lots of shares, but another one is virtually ignored. Or a beautiful shot you took gets no retweets, while a selfie you took with your iPhone gets retweeted dozens of times. Or an image you spent hours trying to capture gets no comments at all.
If your enjoyment of photography can only be quantified by social media metrics, you’ll probably never be satisfied.

This is one of my favorite animal pictures I’ve taken. I know it’s not perfect and the squirrel blends in 

a bit too much with the leaves, but I like it and that’s what gives it value to me.

The problem with these scenarios is they all rely on external validation of your work, and if it fails to materialize, then it can lead to feelings of worthlessness on your part. Taking pictures should be fun, interesting, experimental, captivating, and enjoyable for you. If you like your photos, then it doesn’t matter if you don’t get hearts, thumbs-up, plus-ones, or shares online. Of course you can, and should, seek opinions and advice from others so you can learn to grow your skill, and improve as a photographer. But, don’t let the worth or value of your images be determined by the numbers below them on social media. That’s a trap into which many budding photographers have fallen, and while it can be fun to see one of your images get a lot of attention, the truth is that attention is so fleeting that people will move on to something else within a few hours.

If you just got a new camera, congratulations! If you have one that’s been sitting around waiting to be used, go pick it up! I’m excited for you, and I am thrilled for the journey that awaits. If you have been in these situations before, what are some of your favorite tips and tricks that have helped you use your camera more over the years? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Share this article.

Spontaneous Photos Versus Staged Photos

By: Simon Bond

This is a subject that runs to the very heart of what makes photography special for many people. The convulsions that many had when Steve McCurry decided he was in fact a visual storyteller show just how passionate people are about this subject.
Indeed, a more recent example of this occurred when a photography contest winner was found to have submitted an allegedly staged photo. To a certain degree, we’ve allowed photography to be romanticized by believing amazing photos are all about the moment of capture. That’s certainly an idea many travel or photography magazines have encouraged. In this article, you’ll learn about staged photos, spontaneous photos, and why learning both approaches will improve your work.

A shard of light was used to light this man’s face.

Spontaneous photos

Getting the moment of capture is often what makes or breaks a photo. Landscape photography isn’t always about this, but a lone hiker in your landscape photo can add narrative. Of course, street photography is almost always about moment of capture. So what can you do that will improve your chances of adding that x-factor to your frame?

Visit places with lots of action

If you want to exercise your body, you go to a gym, visit the swimming pool or perhaps go for a run. If you want to get good at taking spontaneous photos, you need to visit places that have lots of decisive moments. These places will train your eye to be razor sharp and alive to the potential of a decisive moment before it happens. This is the opposite of a staged photo.
You’ll want to visit the following places:

• The local market – Find out where your local market is, and when it’s going to be busiest. Some markets are night markets, while your local fish market will be busiest at the crack of dawn. Vendors preparing their stock, street food being prepared, and interaction with customers all have great potential for a decisive moment.
• An event – Events are also great places to practice. These can be sports events, festivals, or parties. Again interaction between people caught at the decisive moment. You’ll often need a lens with a longer focal length to be effective in this setting.
• A busy street – Of course, street photography is what many will think of when you look to take photos with a decisive moment. Get your 50mm prime lens on the camera, and hit the streets looking for interesting characters. It’s often a good idea to choose a location and stop there for a while. Look for those moments of capture to come to you – perhaps against the backdrop of an interesting wall.

An event such as the balloon festival is a chance to capture moments.

Experiment with focal distance

The majority of decisive moment photos you’ll take will be street photos. These will be on the street, or perhaps within a street market. The general rule here is to use a 50mm prime lens, though experimenting with other focal lengths can also give you good results. Using a longer focal length means you can stand in a less noticeable location, allowing the action in front of you to unfold naturally. You’ll also feel more comfortable at a distance, and can anticipate your moments of capture and build your skill for anticipation. Once you have a knack for this anticipation, use wider angles and see how your results turn out. Of course, as mentioned before, sports and often event photography require longer focal lengths to capture the action.

In this photo, a longer focal length of 135mm was used. Markets are great for interactions between 

people.

Wait for the moment to come to you

This is a little like staged photos, except it’s a natural moment. It could be argued that this is the very opposite of spontaneous, but it is nevertheless a moment of capture. When you take this type of photo you will have a pre-composed frame, and you’re waiting for a person to walk into the right position within your photo. You will need a lot of patience, as you could well be waiting for at least an hour.

• A frame – Set up your photo and wait for a person to walk into the frame within your photo. This will immediately give your photo a greater narrative. If possible, wait for more than one person to walk into that frame, so you can choose the most interesting subject.
• A shard of light – A great technique to practice a decisive moment is to wait for people to walk into a shard of light. This gives you a defined condition when you need to press the shutter, so you will need to be fast. Look for an indoor location, and a gap in the roof to let the light through. Then expose at around -2 or -3EV for the background, and normal or slightly underexposed for the sunlit area.

In this photo, the scene was pre-composed. I then needed to wait for people to walk down the path.

Be quick on the draw

Of course, there are times you’re just going to have to be lightning fast. You’ll need to have eyes everywhere, constantly alert to possibilities, and seeing things to the side of you as well. Having your camera setting already setup is essential in this scenario. A more forgiving aperture of say f/8 rather than f/1.8 will also help with quick focus.
In some cases, you will have to use a larger aperture according to the light levels you are photographing in.
If you’ve been practicing in the market where there are many chances to capture a decisive moment, you will get quicker at bringing the camera to your eye and getting the shot immediately – the same skill you’ll have used to capture people walking into a shard of light.

There are times you need to be aware and very fast. These monks crossing the street is a split second 

moment.

Staged photos

The opposite of spontaneous photos is staged photos. This style of photography will be what you practice regularly if you work with models, or perhaps take pre-wedding photos for people. Of course, the recent controversy surrounding these is centered on travel photography, which is all meant to be natural moments. If you want the most striking photo possible, though, the ability to control all aspects of the photo will give you maximum creativity. So what goes into a successful photo of this type?

Going on a photo-shoot with other members of a photography club can be a great learning experience.

Solo vs the group

The photographer who recently ran into trouble with their winning image allegedly used a staged photo from a group photography event.
Of course, it’s quite possible to make a staged photo look natural, and for it to carry a strong message. In fact, if it doesn’t, you need to go back to the drawing board.
The question is, however, when you’re photographing with a group of other photographers, how much are you in control of the creative process? How much is that photo really yours because you pressed the shutter?
Learning with the group is a great way to improve your work. However, to really allow your own creativity to come to the fore, it needs to be you (and only you) who controls how the photos are staged.

Organizing a photo session with a friend or model where you work one-to-one gives you much more 

control.

The narrative

Control the narrative, and you’ll get the photo. To be a good visual storyteller, you need your photo to have that strong story as you guide your viewer’s eye through the frame. So you no longer need to capture the decisive moment. Instead, you’re going to create it.
To do that you’ll need to think of the following:

• Design elements –You can choose your location to perfectly match the photo you want to take. Use frames, or perhaps even create your own frame. Leading lines such as paths or tunnels make for good photos. Good composition skills and a composition that harmonizes with the story you’re going to tell are things you are looking for.
• The story –This could involve your subject looking off into the distance, cooking some food, or perhaps talking with a friend. The aim is to make these moments look as natural as possible, even though they’re staged.
• The background – Lastly, the background should look after itself if you have applied the points made for design elements. Nevertheless, keep an eye on the background. Unless you’re in a studio, people can walk into the background of your photo, affecting the narrative of your photo.

This photo has been staged. An off-camera strobe is placed left of the camera to light the ladies face, 

and the smoke from the cigar.

Micromanage

The management of the photo can go beyond what’s list above. You will want to really micromanage your photo. That means controlling all aspects of it from lighting to what people are wearing in the photo.

• The time of day – The position of the sun is going to dominate your photo. With staged photos, there is absolutely no excuse for getting this aspect of the photo wrong. The same goes for spontaneous photos as well. You should only be attempting these with the sun in the right position.
• Lighting – You’ll need to decide whether you want to use natural light only. If if you only use natural light, you still have the potential to use reflective surfaces to bounce light where you want it to be. Beyond this, you can use strobes, and give your outdoor photo a studio look.
• Clothes – Ahead of the photo shoot organizing with your model what they’ll wear is another aspect that can be controlled. Spend the time liaising with them so that the clothes match the location you have in mind.
• Location – Where you choose to photograph can be controlled for any type of photo, whether it’s spontaneous or not. You’ll need to think about how this location will play off against the model and narrative you hope to acheive. Do you want the area busy with other people, or would it be better to choose a quieter time of the day?

In this photo, the framing was created by sticking together pieces of rice paper using tape. The chef is 

making fresh spring rolls, using rice paper.

Creative techniques

Unlike spontaneous photos, you can use creative techniques with your staged photos. In most cases, creative techniques take time to set up – time you only have when you stage the photo. There are many ways to be creative in your work. You don’t always need to use techniques like these. So take the following as some ideas you could use:

• Light painting – You’ll need to photograph at night, but light painting is a great way of adding interest to your image. You’ll also need a model who can stand or sit very still. Think about the pose position. Some poses are much easier to be statuesque than others.
• Refraction – Photography using prisms, fractal filters or lens balls can give your photo another twist. Your results with such techniques will be better if you stage the photo.
• Flour – Throwing flour in the air is a great way to add a more dynamic feel to your photo. You’ll need to combine this with off-camera flash. The flash needs to be directed so it correctly lights up the flour while it’s mid-air.

In this image, light painting has been used to highlight two monks who are standing still for the photo.

The commercial aspect

With staged photos, you are almost certainly aiming at the commercial market. You’ll be photographing with a model who it’s very likely you’ll pay. If you’re new to this type of photography, you might consider building a relationship with your model, where you both give each other time rather than money to build each other’s portfolios.

• Contests – Contests will ask for the model release of the person in a photo. So, to a certain extent, this rather says a commercial element to the photo is okay.
• Publishing – It’s always nice to see your work published. Look at the photography type you have produced, and see if you can match that to a magazines style. You may well need to produce a set of images, and even write the article that goes with it.
• Stock – As long as you can’t tell the photo is staged, staged photos work very well for stock photos. They’ll be model released, so you’re really ready to go. That extra passive income never hurts, and can pay for your next photo shoot.

Why you need to learn both

There is a temptation to say “I’m going to be a street photographer,” and not look to other types of photography. There is merit in becoming the master of your field and not diversifying. However, a model can transition to photography. They have the advantage of knowing what’s going on in front of the camera. Taking the time to take staged photos will allow you to see the potential for spontaneous photos in a different way as well.
Having staged the photo using off-camera flash, and seeing where things should be positioned in your frame is a skill that can be brought across to the more organic environment of street photography. That is to say; you should be a fashion photographer for a day, learn those ideas, and see what you can bring from that across to your street photography.

The desire for that perfect photo is always there. The purist is likely to want to achieve this organically, using honed photographer instincts to get that moment of capture. There is a lot to be said for learning the other side of the coin and getting in touch with your inner visual storyteller.
Which style of photography do you prefer and why? Would you consider photographing in a different way, even for a day? Here at digital photography school, we’d love to see your example photos.
Please let us know if you took them spontaneously, or if you staged the photo. You can even post an image, and see if the community can guess whether you staged the photo or not.

Share this article.

Do you know what lens you need to choose to get the perfect photo?

Stop taking scenery snaps and start creating breathtaking works of landscape photography art that people will fall in love with.…

https://resources.digital-photography-school.com/ref/937/

10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits

By: Darren Rowse

How do you take Portraits that have the ‘Wow’ factor?
Today and tomorrow I want to talk about taking Portraits that are a little out of the box. You see it’s all very well and good to have a portrait that follows all the rules – but it hit me as I was surfing on Flickr today that often the most striking portraits are those that break all the rules.
I want to look at some ways to break out of the mold and take striking portraits by breaking (or at least bending) the rules and adding a little randomness into your portrait photography. I’ll share ten of these tips today and a further ten tomorrow (update: you can see the 2nd part here).

1. Alter Your Perspective

Most portraits are taken with the camera at (or around) the eye level of the subject. While this is good common sense – completely changing the angle that you shoot from can give your portrait a real WOW factor.

Photo by striatic

Get up high and shoot down on your subject or get as close to the ground as you can and shoot up. Either way you’ll be seeing your subject from an angle that is bound to create interest.

Photo by TeeRish

2. Play with Eye Contact

It is amazing how much the direction of your subject’s eyes can impact an image. Most portraits have the subject looking down the lens – something that can create a real sense of connection between a subject and those viewing the image. But there are a couple of other things to try:
A. Looking off camera – have your subject focus their attention on something unseen and outside the field of view of your camera. This can create a feeling of candidness and also create a little intrigue and interest as the viewer of the shot wonders what they are looking at. This intrigue is particularly drawn about when the subject is showing some kind of emotion (ie ‘what’s making them laugh?’ or ‘what is making them look surprised?’). Just be aware that when you have a subject looking out of frame that you can also draw the eye of the viewer of the shot to the edge of the image also – taking them away from the point of interest in your shot – the subject.

Photo by monicutza80

B. Looking within the frame – alternatively you could have your subject looking at something (or someone) within the frame. A child looking at a ball, a woman looking at her new baby, a man looking hungrily at a big plate of pasta…. When you give your subject something to look at that is inside the frame you create a second point of interest and a relationship between it and your primary subject. It also helps create ‘story’ within the image.

Photo by paulbence

3. Break the Rules of Composition

There are a lot of ‘rules’ out there when it comes to composition and I’ve always had a love hate relationship with them. My theory is that while they are useful to know and employ that they are also useful to know so you can purposely break them – as this can lead to eye catching results.
The Rule of Thirds is one that can be effective to break – placing your subject either dead centre can sometimes create a powerful image – or even creative placement with your subject right on the edge of a shot can sometimes create interesting images.

Photo by reportergimmiâ„¢

Another ‘rule’ that we often talk about in portrait photography is to give your subject room to look into. This can work really well – but again, sometimes rules are made to be broken.

Photo by Bukutgirl

4. Experiment with Lighting

Another element of randomness that you can introduce to your portraits is the way that you light them. There are almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to using light in portraits.
Side-lighting can create mood, backlighting and silhouetting your subject to hide their features can be powerful.

Photo by Bukutgirl

Using techniques like slow synch flash can create an impressive wow factor.

Photo by diskomethod

5. Move Your Subject Out of their Comfort Zone

I was chatting with a photographer recently who told me about a corporate portrait shoot that he had done with a business man at his home. They’d taken a lot of head and shoulder shots, shots at his desk, shots in front of framed degrees and other ‘corporate’ type images. They had all turned out fairly standard – but there was nothing that really stood out from the crowd.
The photographer and the subject agreed that there were plenty of useable shots but they wanted to create something ‘special’ and out of the box. The photographer suggested they try some ‘jumping’ shots. The subject was a little hesitant at first but stepped out into the uncomfortable zone and dressed in his suit and tie started jumping!
The shots were amazing, surprising and quite funny. The shoot culminated with the subject jumping in his pool for one last image!
While this might all sound a little ‘silly’ the shots ended up being featured in a magazine spread about the subject. It was the series of out of the box images that convinced the magazine he was someone that they’d want to feature.

Image by TeeRish

6. Shoot Candidly

Sometimes posed shots can look somewhat…. posed. Some people don’t look good in a posed environment and so switching to a candid type approach can work.
Photograph your subject at work, with family or doing something that they love. This will put them more at ease and you can end up getting some special shots with them reacting naturally to the situation that they are in. You might even want to grab a longer zoom lens to take you out of their immediate zone and get really paparazzi with them.
I find that this can particularly work when photographing children.

Photo by phitar

7. Introduce a Prop

Add a prop of some kind into your shots and you create another point of interest that can enhance your shot.
Yes you might run the risk of taking too much focus away from your main subject but you could also really add a sense of story and place to the image that takes it in a new direction and gives the person you’re photographing an extra layer of depth that they wouldn’t have had without the prop.

Photo by Mrs. Maze

8. Focus Upon One Body Part – Get Close Up

Get a lens with a long focal length attached to your camera – or get right in close so that you can just photograph a part of your subject. Photographing a person’s hands, eyes, mouth or even just their lower body… can leave a lot to the imagination of the viewer of an image.
Sometimes it’s what is left out of an image that says more than what is included.

Photo by Bukutgirl

9. Obscure Part of your Subject

A variation on the idea of zooming in on one part of the body is to obscure parts of your portrait subject’s face or body. You can do this with clothing, objects, their hands or just by framing part of them out of the image.
Doing this means that you leave a little to the imagination of the image’s viewer but also focus their attention on parts of your subject that you want them to be focused upon.

Photo by BigBlonde

10. Take a Series of Shots

Switch your camera into ‘burst’ or ‘continuous shooting’ mode and fire off more than one shot at a time.
In doing this you create a series of images that could be presented together instead of just one static image.
This technique can work very well when you’re photographing children – or really any active subject that is changing their position or pose in quick succession.

Image by diyosa

10 More ways to Take Great Portraits – Continued Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will complete this mini-series of posts on portrait photography with 10 more techniques like the ones above. Make sure you’re subscribed to Digital Photography School to ensure you get the second half!
Update: You can read the 2nd half of this series at 10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography. Also check out What the Mona Lisa Can Teach You About Taking Great Portraits for a portraits tutorial with a difference.
Also – don’t forget the portrait section of our forum – an ideal place to discuss portrait photography and show off some of your work.

Share this article.