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Four Tips for Shooting Awesome People Portraits

Amiyrah of 4 Hats and Frugal

In between sessions at Viewfinder Day, Serena, Amiyrah and I went outside for a quick photo shoot. I love taking portraits and every time I do, I am reminded why I love photography so much. We spent about twenty minutes shooting pictures of each other and sharing tips. When shooting other people, here are a few basic tips for capturing your subject at their best:

Catch them laughing. Do this and you know you will have a great shot. People who are laughing tend to be more relaxed and their pictures always look better. Get them laughing and you will have a great shoot.
Let them “fall into” their poses naturally. I always ask the person I am photographing to stand comfortably. When they do this, the posing does not look forced. Have them extend or slightly alter the pose for the most flattering shot.
Shoot in all kinds of light. When you have challenging lighting situations, make it work for you. The sun was at 1 p.m. when the ladies and I went out to shoot pictures. Instead of shying away from it, we embraced it. I had them stand in the shade and lots of light was coming through the tree they were standing under. I had them turn and shift their faces until the light was more of a highlight/accent before taking the picture. This gave the pictures a natural, artistic flare.
Enjoy the process. When you are shooting with other people, enjoy the process of sharing something you all enjoy. Photowalks and group shoots are a great way to learn and share what you know. After seeing how images looked with the prime lenses I was using, Serena now knows the next lens she is going to purchase for her camera. Amiyrah did not bring her big camera, but she was still able to glean information that helped her shoot great self-portraits with her smartphone.

Serena of Thrift Diving

Never stop learning or practicing your craft. It does not take a three hour shoot to create some amazing portraits. And, if you are open to learning something new, you will. Keep shooting and don’t forget to enjoy the process while capturing your moments.

Four Tips for Shooting in the Snow

Snow makes for wonderful photographs, but shooting in it can be a challenge. Here are a few tips for shooting in it when the chance presents itself.

Exposure

The reflective nature of snow can confuse your camera. One way to remedy this is to up the exposure compensation. It does not matter if the snow if a little over exposed. Better it is this way than to have it gray in color. You can also play with metering to improve the exposure of your image.

Shoot Frost in the Morning

Frost is extremely delicate, but it sure makes for some pretty pictures. As soon as the sun hits frost, it will start to melt. and even a little sunlight will make it start to melt. Plan for shooting early if you want to capture the wonderful display of frost.

Adjust the White Balance

Don’t trust your camera to handle the white balance of your snowy images. When left up to the camera, your images could end up with a bluish cast to them. To fix this, manually set the camera’s white balance using piece of white paper or poster board. Using the white paper gives your camera something to focus on and will improve the overall look of your pictures. This works whether you are shooting snow or not.

Protect Your Camera

Make sure your camera’s batteries are charged and keep your camera warm. Either keep it in your camera bag while you are planning your shot or stick it in your coat. I tend to wear a bigger coat so I can protect my camera from the cold. You want to avoid compensation inside the camera, so be mindful of extreme temperature changes when dealing with your camera.

I hope these tips help you shoot better pictures during our snowy season.