101 Method 1 Family and friends will feel comfortable being photographed by you.

Build up your confidence and use this to your advantage. 2 Take your camera everywhere with you. It should be an extension of your arm. You never know when you might capture the perfect moment. 3 Always get your model to sign a release form where possible. You can download one from www.professionalphotographer.co.uk/magazine/downloads 4 Go to libraries and bookshops and look through the books from the legends of portrait photography such as Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, David Bailey and Cecil Beaton for inspiration, or visit www.professionalphotographer.co.uk for more ideas. 5 Self portraits are a way of understanding how your model feels when being photographed, and the perfect opportunity to experiment with lighting, lenses and composition. 6 Professionals refer to natural light as Gods light and it is a photographers best friend. Look at people around you even when youre not taking pictures and imagine how you would light that person. Practice makes perfect, even when youre not shooting. 7 Remember: light both moves and bounces in straight lines. 8 Shooting in the early morning or at dusk will give you a soft, diffused light. These times are known as the golden hours. 9 To Create a dramatic portrait, use one key light directly from one side of the subject. This works really well next to a window in dark conditions 10 Overexpose and blow out highlights to make a high-key image. This will blow out small details and defects, making the image look smoother and the subjects skin more flattering. 11 For head and shoulders shots, get your model to hold a reflector just above the knees and slightly angled towards them to bounce light upwards to eliminate shadows under the eyes. 12 To successfully use back lighting, you need one key light (back light) and a fill light. Use a light meter to get your exposure reading to balance the two light sources. Watch out for flare! 13 Direct, hard light produces dramatic portraits, but remember that this light is not forgiving of errors. Beware of shadows and imperfections in the subjects complexion. 14 Soft light is more forgiving than direct light. Diffuse flash and use reflectors to bounce light onto your subject to achieve this. 15 All reflectors perform a function: gold offers warmth, silver adds a lot of light, white offers a moderate amount of light and black eliminates reflections from glass and plastic. 16 Look for shapes and a strong composition if considering silhouettes.

17 Go old school and use coloured gels on flash to add colour casts in camera rather than in Photoshop. 18 You only need a small space to create a portrait studio. At Focus on Imaging, we created one taking up no more than one square metre, with one light and one reflector in the corner of a room. 19 Use white polyboards to reflect light, and black polyboards to define edges. 20 When shooting dark skin, always overexpose by up to one stop. 21 When using a white background remeber to light it separately. Always overexpose the background by approximately one F stop and move the subject forward for a shadowless, crisp white result 22 If you want a grey background but you only have a white Colorama, dont light the background. This was a favourite trick of the photographer Terence Donovan. 23 Location portraits can reveal a lifestyle as well as a personality. Use the environment to both frame and inform your portrait. 24 Most people have a special place, use this to reveal emotion and character. 25 Familiar surroundings will help to put your subject more at ease. 26 Use wide apertures when faced with a confusing or busy background to isolate your subject against an out-of-focus background. This is referred to as a shallow depth of field or bokeh. 27 Consider combining landscapes with portraits, with the figure adding both scale and context to the image. 28 Change your view and have a major impact on what your image is saying. Start at eye level and then go high, go low and keep moving around the subject, changing the angle until you find a position that works. 29 Pay specific attention to hands in a portrait. Use them to create graphic but natural compositions, ensuring that they are always soft and never claw-like. 30 Dont be afraid to get in close. Remember what legendary reportage photographer Robert Capa said: If your pictures arent good enough, youre not close enough. 31 Never be afraid to inject humour into your portraits. 32 Dont be afraid of movement, blur or grain. 33 Talk to your subject and make them feel at ease. 34 A half or three-quarter profile is always more flattering than a straight-on approach.

35 Consider framing your subject using found elements such as a window frame or doorway. 36 Always shoot in colour. Any image can be converted to black and white later. 38 Never ask your portrait to smile. Instead, you should try to make them smile. 39Poses should look natural, so keep it simple until you feel confident. 40 Make the shadows an important part of the image. Sometimes the shadow can even be more important to the image than the actual subject casting the shadow. 41 Simplify your image; keep your focus on the subject and declutter the background. 42 Suggest an emotion to your subject such as happiness, sadness, excitement, despair etc. The more extreme the emotion, the more dramatic your portrait will be. 43 Play music which reflects the mood of the image you are hoping to create. 44 If youre interested in documentary portraiture, look at the work of German photographers August Sander and Thomas Struth. 45 Allow the subject to bring their own ideas to a session and never undermine someones confidence by being dismissive. 46 Keep your subject moving between poses and never stop looking for the unexpected shot. 47 Know your equipment and make your camera an extension of both your arm and eye. 48 Be confident and take control you are the director. 49 Experiment with light. Torches and DIY floodlights are cheap alternatives to expensive kit and can be used creatively. Both Helmut Newton and Paolo Roversi have done this. 50 A good portrait is visual proof of a good conversation. 51 Look through magazines and tear out images you think work as portraits and those that dont, then work out why. Understanding is the key to great photography. 52 If your subject has a round face or is concious of a double chin, ask them to frame their face with their hands and ask them lean on a table top. You should then photograph them straight on to create a graphic and sympathetic portrait. 53 When working with a shallow depth of field and more than one subject, make sure that everyone is in focus. 54 Dont hide behind the camera.

55 Look to recreate graphic shapes with your subject thatreflect graphic shapes in your background 56 Your body language has to be confident, open and non-threatening. The worst thing you can do is constantly fiddle with your camera and lights while ignoring the sitter. 57 A dark or low-key image will naturally draw your eyes to the highlight areas such as the eyes. These tend to have a grittier and harder look to them than high-key images. 58 As a rule (and we all know that they are made to be broken), if the person you are photographing is looking in one direction or even if their head is pointing in that direction, it is best to place them on the opposite side of the frame. The reason for this is that when a person views an image with a subject looking in one direction or the other, their eyes also are drawn in that direction. In a sense, youre giving the subject of your image some space to look into, and in doing so, creating a natural way for the photos viewer to flow into the image. 59 While the shoulders might not seem like an important aspect of a portrait, they can actually set the tone for a portrait, as theyre the widest part of your subject and they are the main point of focus for your image (the head) is sitting upon. Angling the shoulders slightly will give your portrait balance and will help lead your viewers eye towards your main focal point. It also stops your subject seeming out of proportion as it lessens the width of the shoulders slightly. 60 Allow people to have their personal space; a telephoto lens can work well, but make sure that you are not too far away to maintain contact with your subject. 61 When shooting full length, by getting low and shooting up, you will make the subject thinner, taller and heroic. 62 Encourage your subject to take relaxed, natural breaths to help them remain relaxed. 63 Bad posture can ruin a portrait. Always remember to make sure your subject has a straight, but relaxed back. 64 When shooting full length, ensure your subject keeps their arms away from their body to ensure the body shape is accentuated. 65 Listen to your subject; do not force a pose they are not comfortable with. 66 Keep photographing the same subject and build up trust and then experiment with alternative styles, looks, and locations. 67 If your subject wears glasses, position the glasses always from the light to avoid flare or reflections. Position the light source very high or bounce it off a ceiling. 68 Dont show the flat surface of hands; instead show finger edges. 69 If your subject is nervous, use props, which will take their mind off being photographed.

70 Props can also add to the composition, but choose your props carefully and ensure they are relevant or have a purpose. 71 Avoid using pop-up flash, this produces harsh and unflattering light. 72 Portraits dont have to be static experiment with movement. 73 Beware of using any lens less than 50mm too close to the subject. You may end up with an unintentionally distorted image. 74 Using intriguing patterns and shapes to add interest to a background 75 Dont be afraid of pushing ISOs up to and above 800. Grain and softness can be both complimentary and provide emotion. 76 Portrait photography lighting is not rocket science. Once you get a system that works for you, youll only need to modify it a little for each individual. As you experiment, make sure you take good notes so that you can reproduce your portrait lighting set-up at a moments notice. 77 If you can place your subject 10 to 15 feet in front of the background, that kind of distance allows the background to fall off and allows you to control the focus of the background. 78 The purpose of a background light in portrait photography is to remove the shadows. 79 To minimise facial wrinkles on your subject and make them look beautiful, use a primary very large, soft light source such as two umbrellas over the lens, which extends both left and right of the subjects face. Then place a large white fill reflector horizontally between 14 and 24in beneath the subjects face. This light minimises vertical creases and wrinkles. 80 A classical portrait lighting arrangement uses three or four different light sources: the main light, the fill light (or a fill reflector), a hair light (or top light), and a background light. 81 The main light is the primary light source illuminating the subject. It is usually set at a 45 to 60-degree angle from the lens axis. This lights the short side of the subjects face, creating a triangular highlight on the broad side of the subjects face. 82 If you are intending the portrait to be in focus, start by focusing on the eyes. 83 A large white reflector is the portrait photographers best friend. This could be anything from a white piece of card to a professional folding reflector. 84 If you cant eliminate a distracting background, use it to your advantage! By pulling the subject away from it and shooting on Aperture priority (f4.0), you will create a small depth of field to blur the backdrop and allow for artistic texture. 85 Brick walls are a great background for a portrait. The horizontal and vertical lines add creative interest, and draw the viewers attention to the subject. But bear in mind that any

lines used in a portrait are always strongest when they come from outside the frame and lead to the subject. 86 Always test lights and set-up before your subject arrives. Use a stand-in if possible. 87 Keep shooting. A professional can take over 100 shots of the same subject to get the perfect image. 88 Dont expect your subject to give you more than 15 minutes at any one time before you either change the location or set-up. 89 Consider using a telephoto lens. It will reduce distortion and have the added benefit of a narrow depth of field. 90 Use flash outside to create dramatic skies. 91 The best picture will often be the first or the last picture you take as this is when your subject is most relaxed. 92 Look at the work of the great Irving Penn (see his exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London until 16 June) for ideas on how creative you can be with a small space such as the corner of a room. 93 Fill light fills in shadows appearing on the subjects face. For the best result, fill lighting typically incorporates a reflective disc or umbrella to soften reflections. The fill light should be positioned about three feet from the subject to the left of the camera and be square with the persons shoulders. 94 Experiment with colours, textures and fabrics even if you want a flat background. Old canvas, sails and industrial sheeting all work well and can be cheap. Search online auction sites for these. 95 For the best black background, use black velvet (old curtains are best). This is a professional photographers fail-safe stand-by. 96 Consider using the high-dynamic range process for subjects with characterful faces. But only use it when appropriate. See our March issue for an easy-to-follow HDR process. 97 Hair lights up like crazy when its back-lit, so if hair is a big part of your subject, make it stand out by placing your subject between you and a light source. You could also take this a little further and push the image to a silhouette. 98 Make use of different surfaces to add the extra dimension of reflection windows, mirrors, and water are all very good reflective surfaces that give a different result and texture. 99 Experiment with cropping. Theres no rule against cropping out most of the subjects face. This draws more attention to the parts that are left in the frame.

100 Experiment with concealing areas of your subjects face with their hands or dramatic lighting to make your images more graphically complex. 101 Always remember that a great portrait is about who the person is, not what they look like.