When you look at portrait photography, you will see that it is different from other branch of digital photography. You can see that your subjects are human beings who speak their own words, have personal feelings and want to look good in the pictures. Surely you won't hear the mountain complain when you didn't capture the best side of it. Right?
One of the important portrait photography tips is that you will want to look at the details around your subject before you snap the picture. Sometimes it only takes a small thing to ruin the perfect picture. It can be an old scar, a folded skirt, or simply a pole in the background. Imagine your client complain about the slipped bra strap in the picture. You will have a lot of trouble explaining to your client why you didn't notice that.
Now, portrait photography doesn't always mean that you only take close up face shot of your subject. You are not using that picture to apply for driving license. The essence of this portrait photography technique is to capture the natural side of your subject. Lets say your niece is blowing off the birthday candle. Don't you think it is only logic to include the candles that you can show what your niece is doing? Your niece will look silly instead of natural with only her head in the picture.
Then, for those who are using compact digital camera, you can look into the setting of your camera and select the portrait mode. This will then slow down the shutter speed and allow more light to go into the camera. This will then create a shallow depth of field (how shallow it can go depends on your camera) hence enhancing the details of your subject. You will see the difference when you compare portrait photography taken with portrait mode and other mode.
The last thing you can do to improve your portrait photography technique is to talk to your subjects. Professional photographers don't just take good pictures. They also want to know what their subjects want and how they as professional photographers can enhance that. After all it is their pictures you are taking and they have all the rights to look good in the pictures.
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Michael Wong is happy to share his knowledge about digital photography with you and hope you enjoy them.