Portrait Photography - A Primer

Portrait photograpy is the art of capturing human faces in a number of situations and capturing a variety of emotions. The whole idea is to adequately capture the personality of the subject as well as their image.

Portrait photography doesn't have to be restricted to the studio either, as many people wish their portraits to be shot on location or in their own homes as well as the the traditional studio setup. Plus, one less glamourous aspect of portrait photography is for pictures used on official documents such as passports and the like.

Basic Photography Lighting Equipment

Lights are some of the most important tools photographers use in the creation of their final products. Here's a look at some of the most basic photography lighting equipment, as it relates to studio strobe lighting. Choose the right tools, and you'll get a better result, every time.

While you may occasionally be able to get good results with the wrong equipment, most of the time you won't. There's a slim chance that a photo taken with a bare flash head will work out. However, rather than take that chance, it's a better idea to find the equipment to help you do a really professional job.

Bare bulbs are just a strobe head with no reflector, allowing the light to go wherever it wants to. They're only really effective as a portrait background light in a small space. They can also be used inside light boxes.

However, for pretty much every other use, you'll want a reflector or diffuser of some sort. Small reflectors are sometimes built into the light head, and work well with umbrellas, as well as for bouncing off of walls and ceilings. Stick with a neutral colored wall if you'll be bouncing light off of it, however.

Larger reflectors are a kind of photography lighting equipment that doesn't work as well with umbrellas, since they block part of them. However, they're much better for bouncing light onto ceilings and walls. They project more light, using fewer watt seconds. For commercial photography, this will save you money on photography lighting equipment.

Umbrellas are used by most portrait photographers, but not everyone cares for them. They spread relatively soft light over a large area, but have poor control. An alternative is a soft box, which creates a square catch light.

If you do prefer an umbrella, make sure you get the biggest one you can. After all, a large umbrella can be positioned closer to the subject to give the effect of a smaller one, but a small one can't act like a large one.

Another piece of basic photography lighting equipment is the grid spot. Shaped a bit like a metal honeycomb that goes over the reflector, it keeps the light from spreading, making multiple columns of light close together. This creates a spot light.

Larger grid spots are more efficient, but they also take up more space. They work well for background lighting, however. You'll also want to look at light boxes. These are a simple frame holding open a five sided box (some are also round). They offer a lot of control, and can work well for fill lighting.

We shouldn't forget about strip lights, either. These long, thin light boxes can help you do some interesting experimental effects. Another very important and key component in a pro photography lighting equipment setup is a backdrop.

From product photographs to glamour shoots, a dependable background support and backdrop is always needed. Utilizing a high quality, all cotton muslin backdrop to shoot against will assist photographers in creating stunning images on a consistent basis.

For photographers looking for the best shots and attaining them with a great degree of consistency. Making the best use of photography lighting equipment and accessories will greatly assist them in producing incredible photographs routinely. In the extremely popular photography world, the quality of your shots matter a great deal for everything between shooting product photos for your business or eBay store all the way to complete glamour shoots.

The Modern Movement of Photography

In the process of time, portrait and wedding photography has changed from the traditional approaches of formal portraiture to the less formal. The appeal of more relaxed and the natural poses are more personal and reflective of who the portrait is really about.

The movement of more casual styles may have been influenced by the current fashion photography that emphasizes untraditional poses. Fashion photography emphasizes details through techniques in lighting instead of using rigid poses. Also the digital camera has provided a high level of flexibility with nearly unlimited frames where the right shot doesn't have to be created, but rather just captured.

The modern day photographer doesn't have to be in a studio, in fact most people today don't want their picture taken in a studio. A natural and relaxed photo can be achieved anywhere.

Post processing has lead to this movement in the fact that pictures that aren't perfect can be made perfect. Natural poses will yield unexpected results. The best picture may be one where there is a tree branch in the way, or a stop sign in the back ground, or maybe even a little bit of bad posture.

All of this can be fixed in post production software. Even some free software can be used to make such corrections. And of course the all popular Photoshop seems to be the all in one tool for post production.

Does that mean the traditional way of photography is dead? Well quite the contrary. Traditional poses have been around since the beginning of time with paintings and certainly continue today in modern photography.

The concept is not as popular but the possibilities have been enhanced ten fold with modern day technology. Posed shots have shifted from the "glamour" shot of yesterday into dramatic enhanced effects of background and lighting to reveal fairy tale like effects that can seem almost magical. The possibilities are endless with todays post processing techniques.

The wonderful thing about photography today is it doesn't need sophisticated studio equipment or a huge investment. A good digital camera is very affordable and there are simple ways with a natural lighting, couple of lighting sources, and a decent post production software to make incredible and professional portraits.

No matter what equipment you use, what techniques you are interested in, the essential goal remains about portrait photography: To idealize the subject. The best pictures portray information about a person's self. This can't be achieved with words and must be achieved by the pose, the lighting, and the surrounding elements in the picture.

The best way to do this is to make sure you know your subject before you take pictures of them. Then begin taking snap shots. The beauty of digital cameras is that you can see your results right away to see if you are taking pictures that are capturing the personality of your subject.

Now that you know it is important to capture your subject's "self", you must also know that it is your job to make your subject look good. There are a few ways you can bring out the best in a subject, but the easiest way is to make sure you have a good lens.

For portrait photography with 35mm format try using a 80mm lens. For medium format try using a lense between 100-120mm. The longer lenses will have a slight pinching effect that will make your subject appear slightly thinner.

With the movement in modern day photography there are opportunities for all types of photographers and the possibilities are endless. We are only seeing the beginning of the digital age and there is more to come in the near future.

Bill Cotter is an author for http://www.memoriesputtomusic.com about wedding photography phoenix Beyond just more information about phoenix wedding photography, Bill also writes about being a wedding photographer.