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Five Unique Portrait Photography Ideas – Guest Post by Lauren Phillips

Portrait photography is one of the most popular types of photography, and if you are a professional photographer, it is the number one way to make money in your trade. People love to have pictures taken of their families, friends and coworkers to have as mementos, but the old fashioned portrait is losing its novelty. To make your portrait photo taking more interesting, why not use one of the following five unique ideas? These ideas present fun and different ways to photograph a person and show their personality. Using these tricks will surely impress your family and friends (if you are an amateur photographer) or your clients (if you are a professional photographer). Ready…set…shoot!

1. Use backlighting or side lighting:

In most photography, backlighting and side lighting is to be avoided. But using one of these unique lighting situations could make for a very interesting portrait shot. With backlighting, your subject will appear as a silhouette. With side lighting, only certain facial features will be highlighted. Drawing attention to particular features creates a dramatic effect.

Figure 1 An example of backlighting.

Figure 2 An example of side lighting.

2. No eye contact with the camera:

Almost all portraits show the subject staring directly at the camera. If you have only one subject, have them turn their head and look to their right or left. Or take the photo from the side and have them stare straight ahead. If you have two subjects in one shot, have them look at one another. This works particularly well in engagement or wedding photography.

Figure 3 Photo of Ansel Adams. An example of no eye contact with the camera.

3. Different perspective: Crouch down low or stand above your subject. Or have your subject sit on the floor while you lay on the ground to take the shot.You can even have them stand while you turn your camera at an angle. A different perspective can create a fun shot that is full of life.

Figure 4 An example of changing the perspective by shooting at an angle.

4. Be candid: Show your subject in their most candid element by photographing them while they are performing a hobby or something they enjoy. For example, if your son plays the guitar, photograph him strumming a song. If your client loves to ride bikes, photograph them with their bicycle. These types of portraits are truly the most memorable and heartwarming.

Figure 5 An example of a candid shot.

5. Show movement: Have your subject stand still on a busy street while people or cars are rushing by. The shot should show your subject in clear focus with the streaks of movement from the people or cars surrounding them. This creates an energetic and dramatic shot.

Figure 6 An example of movement.

Best photography to you and yours!

Lauren Phillips has been a professional event photographer for 16 years and also owns the site http://www.photographydegrees.org/. She likes to write articles about everything photography.

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Tags: portrait photography, portrait photography ideas, unique portrait photography ideas

General | admin December 1, 2011 | Comments (0)

Black and White Photography

Learn Digital Photography Now

Black and white photography is timeless and where some of the most amazing images come from and shooting for black and white makes you think outside your usual boundaries without having a color reference frame.

Black and white images can be artistic, stark, evocative, atmospheric or textural and can convey mood and form with strong contrasts of light and shade and the strong shadow can enhance mood.

Black and white requires a very different mindset to color photography where color itself can define a shot and you may need to rethink how you see and frame up a possible subject with more concentration on texture and form, light and shade.

Monochrome photographs can be striking and dramatic with pattern, texture and contrast defining the mood and giving a depth and intensity that color can’t even begin to compete. Look for strong form too – think of angular buildings and architectural shapes in strong shadow, the profile of a character portrait defined by strong shadow, and make sure the tonality is not all one shade of boring grey. Sculptural form can look pretty amazing in black and white – think textural plants, trees, and angular forms, jagged rocks, spiky cactus plants, repetitive patterns and think abstract for some incredible macro black and white images.

Experiment with some of your existing images on your computer and take a look at them in black and white in your editing program to get an idea of what sort of shot looks best in black and white before heading out into the field with your camera.

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Tags: Black and White Photography, landscape photography, photographing trees

Photographing Everyday Objects | admin June 1, 2011 | Comments (0)

Water Droplets and Lemons

A Couple of Cool Links for you today that I am sure you will love with some incredible shots and ideas

Taken on an agave leaf, early morning after heavy dew

45 amazing and clever photos of water droplets - http://www.lightstalking.com/water-drops

Just passing the fruit bowl when I noticed the light shining on the lemons and begging to be photographed

Food photography – when life hands you lemons – photograph them

http://www.lightstalking.com/lemons

Tips and tricks to awesome digital photography – free report here

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Tags: photographing lemons, water droplets

Digital Abstract Photos, How To Digital Photography, Macro Photography | admin May 8, 2011 | Comments (1)

Macro photography of a Passionflower and Palm trunk. How to come up with awesome images

Can you imagine what these would look like if you took the shot of just the passionfruit vine with a flower in the corner ?

Wouldn’t it lose its impact ? Would it look half as good as it does moving close in to take a macro image where the entire frame is filled with the flower ?

These photos were taken with the flash off and on macro setting – best to use a tripod unless your camera has a built in anti-shake or you have steady hands or take the photo

with your arms close to your body for extra support. Don’t you think the second photo looks a bit like a lobster ? The beauty of macro is that you can take a small piece of something and

come up with a fantastic abstract image that is pure photo art. Give it a try. Look around for something you can photograph small parts of, or in a different way and see what you can come up with.

Click here for FREE shoot like a pro report

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Tags: how to come up with awesome images, palm trunk, passionflower. macrophotography, textural shot

Digital Abstract Photos, Flower Photos, General, How To Digital Photography, Macro Photography | admin March 31, 2011 | Comments (0)

The Monk – Editing digital photos – Guest Post – Kevin

This is a guest post from Kevin, my brother, who sent across this cool photo that he had edited – ”The Monk”.

Think he was poking fun at my photo program

I normally use Photoshop, or you could use Photoshop Elements , I also use Picasa- free and I occasionally go into some of my others if I remember them or come across them.

This image goes to show you can edit on any photo editing program and come out with great results – its all in how you see things and how you use your inner photographers eye ! The image would look great as a poster, postcard, mousepad, cards or a zillion other things

Here is the info on how to do it for yourselves:

This was done on a program called iPhoto Plus Version 4.0 a very basic simple

to use program.

I just used the basic tools in the standard iphoto software,

once opened,select the photo you want to use then go to the tool bar select the paint tools

then select the lighten tool , in the attributes bar click on the tool shape & size.

Do a bit of trial and error practise.

Hint it is important I found when using this type of tool to stop click and lift

the tool you are using quite frequently, the reason being if you make a boo boo just go

up to the undo arrows top left and you won’t undo all of the work from the start of using

that tool,only what you did from the last time you stopped and started again.

Once you have achieved the auric level you are satisfied with go back toolbar, select

paint tool ,select the straight thin line and choose a white colour (soften/lighten it) from

the attributes bar this will give thin white lines emanating out from head plus enhancing

the auric glow and adding slightly stronger striations.

Remember to make use of the undo arrows top left . this picture probably took approx

20 mins to get it the way I felt was reasonable.Then I don’t do them every day

Who needs Photoshop. Just a little Kiwi ingenuity

Kevin

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Tags: edit a digital image, editing a digital photo, editing digital photo yourself, how to edit a digital image

How To Digital Photography | admin March 12, 2011 | Comments (4)

Photographing Pets

Delightful Chinese Silky Hen called Tiffany drinking out of the bird bath

Photographing pets is definitely where you need to be quick clicking the shot. Pets won’t be waiting around while you compose your picture so its best to keep clicking and hope for the best. with this photo, the wee hen was quite dark and every time I tried to get her she disappeared into the shadows and all you could see was a blob. Now, I could have used a flash but that would have destroyed the subtle lighting effect of the light on her feathers so I have photographed her with the sun against her to bring out the feathery look to advantage. Because she kept darting around and didn’t stay still at all I had to take quite a few photos to get this one that looks clearer and I managed to get this by finding a position where I thought she would look good and waiting until she showed up. Sometimes this can be quite a long time so have patience with pets. I have several pets who really like having their photos taken to the extent that they keep coming towards the camera !

Most digital cameras now have a setting for backlighting but sometimes this will destroy the effect too so experiment with other objects rather than miss a great shot of your precious pet. Feathers and fur usually look great against the light so use this to your advantage.

Black or dark pets are difficult to photograph as their eyes often seem to disappear into their heads and not show up. Try some sort of screen to bounce light off – a fence in the right place or the side of a white house will make a huge difference to the light and give an overall even light. I have a range of hens and poultry that I often photograph and the ginger hens come out looking great almost every time and the white hens look amazing but the black ones I feel a bit like a sleuth creeping around trying to get a good shot of them.

Tips:
leave the flash off,
experiment on times of the day when your pet shows up best in a photograph
experiment with other objects to get your lighting right
move close in to fill the entire frame to focus attention on your pet

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Tags: how to photograph pets, macro image of pets, photographing pets

How To Digital Photography | admin March 10, 2011 | Comments (3)

Sony Digital Picture Frame

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Tags: digital picture frame, Sony Digital Picture Frame

General | admin February 6, 2011 | Comments (2)

Wireless Digital Picture Frame Review

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Tags: picture frame review, Wireless Digital Picture Frame Review

General | admin | Comments (1)

Digital Photography and the Light

Photographers – painters of light.

Ever noticed the light ?

I mean really noticed the light.

How it changes constantly, how it shifts and moves, comes and goes ever so slightly.

How it slides to one side then the next in a subtle dance of light.

Because our eyes adjust to the light shifts automatically and instantly we don’t even really notice it until we start to take photographs.

Get Paid For YOUR Pictures Get Paid For YOUR Pictures Get Paid For YOUR Pictures

Ever start clicking and thinking you have the perfect shot and then take a look at the display to find you have a shadow over half of your photo that you didn’t even spot when you took it ?

Digital will force you to take note !

You will suddenly become very aware of light shifts.

You need to be if you don’t want to find all your photos have come out in various shades and depths of stripes

Once you take note of it it becomes pretty obvious but just try this as an experiment:

Place an object you want to photograph half in and half out of bright sunlight and click the shutter.
Check your display screen
What do you see ?
You will notice your photo is separated into two distinct halves, one very dark and one very light.
Now try this adding another shade source, like a window pane or plant and see where the light and shade start and finish.
Leave your subject in the same place and photograph it again in half an hour
Take another half hour later again and notice how the light has changed dramatically
Go on, do it now – you can always delete them, who will ever know you have taken such lousy shots, half black and the other half looking like a ghost has just been blasted through it.

You will notice in the photos above that light plays a big part, good and bad ! The top photo shows the distortion where the camera is too close to the lens but the composition is good and the light and shadow improves the photo and the second photo is completely ruined by the fall of the shadow and you will also see the power lines in this photo. OK, you can edit them out but why go to all that effort when if you walk around to the other side and wait for the shadow to shift you can get a far better shot.

Now you have lift off – the importance of where the light source is and where it highlights is one of the most important things to bear in mind if you want amazing and incredible photos.

Ask yourself where you want the light to come from, where you want it to reflect on your subject, what you want to highlight and what you want to overshadow and you will find it makes a huge difference to your photographs.

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Tags: digital photography and the light, light and digital

Digital Abstract Photos, Flower Photos, How To Digital Photography, Macro Photography | admin January 26, 2011 | Comments (0)

NZ Fern Macro shot

Sunlit Fern in a dark side of house transformed with a ray of sun catching it.

You will find exciting images everywhere once you start to see differently – try it – don’t be like some would be photographers who are “waiting until they know how to do it properly ” just do it and you will find you become good at it and if you keep going you will become excellent at identifying those shots that are keepers.

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Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing