Creative Portraits: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

242 Pages·2010·118.78 MB·English

by  Harold Davis

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Creative Portraits
Digital Photography Tips & Techniques
Harold Davis
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Creative Portraits: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques
by Harold Davis
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
All photographs © Harold Davis
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-0-470-62326-8
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Acknowledgements
A very special thanks to everyone who helped with this book, modeled for me,
or sat for their portrait. You know who you are.
Credits
Acquisitions Editor: Courtney Allen
Project Editor: Matthew Buchanan
Technical Editor: Chris Bucher
Copy Editor: Matthew Buchanan
Editorial Manager: Robyn Siesky
Business Manager: Amy Knies
Senior Marketing Manager: Sandy Smith
Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley
Vice President and Publisher: Barry Pruett
Book Designer: Phyllis Davis
Media Development Project Manager: Laura Moss
Media Development Assistant Project Manager: Jenny Swisher
▲ Front piece: My son Nicky is full of life and always changeable and in motion. The trick in photographing him is
to be ready with the camera so I can get the photo while the getting is good.
200mm, 1/15 of a second at f/5.6 and ISO 400, hand held
▲ Title page: Using a single bare studio strobe to selectively light this portrait established a clear demarcation
between light and shadow areas.
95mm, 1/200 of a second at f/9 and ISO 100, hand held
▲ Above: In portraiture, the subject’s eyes are looked at first because they are the most expressive feature. Hands
are a close second, so in this pose I combined hands and eyes.
70mm, 1/100 of a second at f/6.3 and ISO 100, hand held
▼ Page 6: The model in this photo was bored and had an uninteresting expression until I asked her to use a mask.
With the mask in place, her eyes conveyed true emotion which helped make a striking portrait.
135mm, 1/60 of a second at f/8 and ISO 100, hand held
5
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Contents
8 Introduction 126 Making Camera-Eye Contact
128 Movement and Shutter Speed
10 Window of the Soul
132 Aperture and Depth-of-Field
12 Kinds of Portrait Photos
136 Choosing the Right Lens
14 Why People Sit for a Portrait
16 Why Photographers Make Portraits 140 Lighting Techniques
20 The Psychology of Portraiture 142 Working with Light
24 Understanding People 144 To See the Light
30 Character is Destiny 148 Kinds of Light
34 Capturing Emotion 150 Lighting at Home
38 Telling the Truth About Someone 154 Direct Flash
42 Vanity and Narcissism 158 Studio Lighting
46 Artifi ce and Portraiture
168 Kids and Family
50 Creating a Self-Portrait
170 Photographing Kids
56 Day in the Life 178 Working with Families
58 Assignment: People 182 Portraits of Children
61 Approaching People 186 Casual Kid Photographs
61 Model Releases 190 Environmental Portraits of Kids
64 Composing Portraits 194 Making Sure Your Kids Love Photography
68 Street Photography
72 Environmental Portraiture 196 Portraits in the Digital Darkroom
78 People at Work 198 Workfl ow and File Formats
84 People at Play 199 Mulit-RAW Processing
90 Working with Models 204 Saving Your Work
94 Casting Models 206 Fixing Flaws
96 Propping 210 Working with Skin
100 Clothing 218 Enhancing Eyes
104 Hair and Make-Up 222 Selective Sharpening
226 Black and White
108 Portrait Techniques
230 LAB Color Inversions
110 Posing
116 Jumping 234 Notes and Resources
120 Backgrounds 236 Glossary
124 Positioning Your Camera 238 Index
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Introduction
“The proper study of Mankind is Man,” The truth of a portrait depends upon the
wrote Alexander Pope in 1733. Bringing insight and integrity of the photographer,
this thought into the context of a modern the honesty of the subject, and the photo-
digital photographer, making portraits of graphic and digital techniques and manipu-
men, women, and children is a passionate lations used. Not all photographic portraits
undertaking for many of us. are intended to be truthful, nor should they
be. For example, if you are hunting for a
As a well-known proverb says, “the eyes are
job, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with
the window to the soul.” It’s often believed
putting “your best foot forward” by using
that by looking into someone’s eyes you
an overtly fl attering professional head shot.
can see into their core being; and that
by observing a face, or a photo of a face, My point is that in portrait photography it
you can understand character. The issues is crucial to be aware of your intentions and
common to all photography—composition, goals. A glamour session in the studio is a
lighting, exposure, and camera technique— very different affair from a gritty portrait
come into play when you make a portrait. that attempts to reveal the truth about a
In portraiture, the variables of character complex personality, warts and all. Also,
and physiognomy add assumptions about unlike most other kinds of photography,
the relationship between reality and great portraiture requires collaboration
portrayal, as well as challenges in rendering with your subject. If you are taking a photo
character as you see it, and opportunities of a blade of grass or a railroad station,
for creative photography. you don’t really care what the plant or
the building thinks of you. But if you are
To what extent is a photographic portrait
photographing a person, your relationship
“real”? Does the portrait represent the
with the person—their life experiences, how
subject fairly and accurately? Put another
they feel about photography, and what
way, do you know something that is true
they think of you—plays an important role
about the subject after looking at the
in the process of photography.
portrait?
Speaking of intentions and goals,
These are excellent questions. If you are not
Creative Portraits is unlike other portrait
involved in the serious pursuit of making
photography books you may have seen.
photographs, you’re likely to assume that
My assumption is that you are seriously
there is a correlation between the photo
interested in photography—or you probably
and the reality of the subject, and that
wouldn’t have picked up this book. But
you’ve learned something about someone
this isn’t primarily a treatise about studio
by looking at their portrait. But as photog-
portrait techniques.
raphers, we know that many photographic
portraits are superfi cial and plastic—and Instead, Creative Portraits aims squarely at
highly subject to manipulation. the heart and soul of portrait photography,
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