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Capturing the Light in Portrait Photography
Another great day of portrait photography. The light was fantastic for this photography course – filtered light breaking through the clouds. Perfect! To create this soft illuminated light on Ghazaleh, we directed light from a reflector to create soft illumination. Ghazaleh is gorgeous in this shot – expressive eyes dominate the composition. Shallow aperture for portrait photography is recommended. This photograph of Ghazaleh was captured with an aperture value of F4. Be brave with compositions and fill the frame!
Add a 50mm prime lens to your kit bag and you can achieve shallow, shallow apertures of F1.4. To capture great outdoor portraiture make your subject feel comfortable in the pose – Talk to your subject and let them know how great they look through your lens! Combine a fast shutter speed and shoot in continuous drive mode just in case your subject blinks. Don’t loose a perfect pose because of one eye closed! Shoot a few frames to ensure you capture the portrait perfectly, as seen through your camera. DSLRs and advanced compacts offer more control as to how the portrait will look. Selecting aperture manually and controlling exposure gives the portrait the look you want.
Lou Smith runs Photography Courses in London all year round. Contact Lou for details.
Photographs and content may not be used without permission.
© Lou Smith 2011, All Rights Reserved
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