How to take portrait picture

bj333 · Mar 24, 2004

I have aksed to take some shots of portrait picture by bracketing. I hv never used SLR camera before in my life and i hv to use now for my this elctive subject. What is portrait actually?
What sorts of things i have to keep in my mind while taking shots, i hv to take picture of standing person.
What portrait picture should focus? what should be the distance between subject and spot?
I would be glad if u kindly provide me some information regarding portait.

Skyeg · Mar 24, 2004

it really depends on the situataion. it depends on what light you have, your background, your lens and probubly a few other thing. i would you at least an 80mm lens, somwhere between 80mm and 135mm. other then that just take pictures and see what you like. no one gets this stuff perfect on their first try.

Cuervo79 · Mar 26, 2004

Hey man, in a portrait posture is very important, if you are taking a picture from the "chest up" you can play with diferent sitting postures, wich in fact make the portrait look different, what i've found that looks good most of the time is making your subject sit in a stool or somewere were the postition is the same, also the height of the camera weather at eye level ( to get a natural look) or lower ( to get an important look) you can play with lots of stuff... now regarding the SLR use it in the auto function, so the only thing you have to worry about is getting the right photo, and don't worry about exposure, etc. (since you said you haven't worked with one) and yes if you have big lenses like 80mm or a little bigger use them, don't use wide lenses (lower than 50mm) because you tend to get closer to the subject, and sometimes deforming it, like if you get too close you could get a HUGE nose hehehehe. keep on posting if you have any other questions man... (LOL this is my first post)

spicychicken · Mar 26, 2004

for a full length portrait, make sure your subject fits inside your viewfinder with room to spare on all sides. keep in mine most portraits will be framed and sometimes the matting or frame will cut into your picture and you don't want to a head or foot to be cut off in the frame.

make sure you are at eye level, or slightly above as it will make the subject seem more appealing and not skewed. no one wants to see up their nose. i find that i need to stand on something to get this in full length shots as more people are taller than myself.

for posture, its good to pose yourt subject's body at a 45 degree angle with their face turned toward you. when you take pictures straight on it makes them look frumpy and sort of gives off a mugshot vibe.

you didn't mention if you were taking close ups or not, but for those, depending on what they want, its good to crop at about chest height. remember to leave ample space on all sides again. use the 45 degree angle and above eye level for this as well.

hope this helps

Big Mike · Mar 26, 2004

Good portraits are all about lighting.

Try using soft window light, this is much easier than getting involved with studio lighting. Try using something white on the non-window side of the person for fill lighting.

Do not a flash that is built into the camera for the main light...this will not make for nice lighting. Maybe if you go outside for some portraits, use the flash even if it is sunny, to avoid dark shadows on the face.

As mentioned, try some shots on auto mode. Also use aperture priority (AV) mode and set the aperture to the widest it can go (smallest number). This will give you a shallow depth of field, which is nice in portraits. Just make sure that the eyes are in crisp focus. Start at the widest aperture and take some shots gradually stopping down as you go.

Don't be afraid to use lots of film, if you can. Have fun.

bj333 · Mar 28, 2004

But i have camera pentax K1000 which is manual camera, so i would like to take my picture setting my own apeture and shutter speed, so i got some suggestion from u guys how to take portrait.
But what is my suitable exposure setting for portrait picture if i am taking picture on white background keeping my subejt (person) infront of it. (chest up).
What are the things i have to becareful while taking picture?
regards