10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits

Being part of the 365 Days/threesixtyfive self-portrait a day for a year project, I found this article over on the DPS Blog today very interesting. Always looking for different ways to shoot myself, and I’m sure this will come in handy for portrait shooting as well!

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.

In a nutshell here are the ten points from the post today:

1. Alter your perspective
2. Play with eye contact
3. Break the rules of composition
4. Experiment with lighting
5. Move your subject out of their comfort zone
6. Shoot candidly
7. Introduce a prop
8. Focus upon one body part - get up close
9. Obscure part of your subject
10. Take a series of shots

My favorite technique, as you can see, is playing with and experimenting with light (photo above). I also find some of my best portraits are when shot candidly - as can be seen in the two photos below.

Be sure to head on over to the DPS Blog and read in detail 10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits!

Tags: 365, DPS, People, portraits, self-portraits, threesixtyfive, Tips

Sara Vs. The Storm - flickr Fave of the Day

Been awhile since I posted a flickr Fave of the Day, been super busy lately! Anyways, had a chance to check out some of the photos by Gods Emerald and I have to say… wow! Such great shots… this is one of my favorites, love the composition and angle this was taken from.

Sara Vs. The Storm, originally uploaded by Gods Emerald.

Tags: child, flickr Fave of the day, Gods Emerald, storm

Give Kids of Angola a chance! - flickr Fave of the Day

I just love this shot, great colors, great pose and expression.

Give Kids of Angola a chance!, originally uploaded by Kool2bBop.

Tags: child, flickr Fave of the day, Kool2bBop, Portrait

Photographing Children - A Quick Tip

While older children might have the patience to sit still for a few minutes while you set up your gear, get your camera settings all right, adjust your flash and then get them sitting just right - in most cases children just don’t have the attention span.

Definitely finding this out already! Read the rest of the “Photography Children” article over at DPS.

Tags: Children, DPS, tip

I is for Itty Bitty - flickr Fave of the Day

My fave of the day comes from the DPS forums alphabet game… I just like the framing on this one and the subject matter… wish we’d done more like this when our kids were still babies.

I is for Itty Bitty, originally uploaded by Amy-Rose.

Tags: amy-rose, flickr Fave of the day, foot, hand