10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips-portrait-photography[26-May-12 8:21:43 PM]

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photographyby Darren Rowse

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255 Yesterday I shared 10 Ways to take Stunning Portrait Photography. We covered everything from altering yourperspective as a photographer, to experimenting with lighting, to shooting candidly.

Today I want to continue on the same train of thought with 10 more tips for adding a little spice to your portraits.

Note: this post is an extract from our Essential Portrait Photography Tips E-book – Grab Your Copy Today!

11. Frame Your Subject

Framing is a technique where by you draw attention to one element of an image by framing it with another element of theimage.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Image by darkmatter

Framing gives an image depth and draws the eye to a point of interest in the image.

You could do it by placing your subject in a window or doorway, have them look through a small gap or even use theirhands around their face. See more examples of framing in photography here.

12. Go with a Wide Angle

Shooting with a wide angle lens attached to your camera can help create some memorable shots when you’re doing portraitphotography.

At very wide focal lengths you can create some wonderful distortion. It might not be the type of shot you take of your wifeor girlfriend (unless she’s in a playful mood) but using these focal lengths will enlarge parts of the face or body that are onthe edge of the frame more than what is in the centre.

It can also give a wide open and dramatic impact when your subject is in an impressive setting.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Image by paulbence

13. Play With Backgrounds

The person in your portrait is the main point of interest – however sometimes when you place them into different contextswith different backgrounds you can dramatically alter the mood in a shot.

Sometimes you want your background to be as minimalistic as possible.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Portrait by akbar1947

While other times a dramatic or colorful background can help your subject really stand out.

Photo by paulbence

The key is to experiment.

14. Change the Format Framing

Many photographers get stuck in a rut of only ever shooting either in ‘landscape’ (when the camera is held horizontally) or

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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‘portrait’ (when the camera is held vertically) modes. Look back through your images and see which one you usepredominantly.

Just because a vertical framing is called ‘portrait’ mode doesn’t mean you always need to use it when shooting portraits. Mixyour framing up in each shoot that you do and you’ll add variety to the type of shots you take.

Image by bikeracer

15. Hold Your Camera on an Angle

Horizontal and Vertical framings are not the only options when it comes to shooting portraits. While getting your imagesstraight can be important in when shooting in these formats holding your camera on a more diagonal angle can also inject alittle fun into your images.

This type of framing can add a sense of fun and energy into your shots. Just don’t ‘slightly’ do it or you’ll have peopleasking themselves if you might have mistakenly held your camera crooked.

Photo by puja

16. Take Unfocused Shots

As photographers we have ‘sharp focus’ drummed into us as an ultimate objective to achieve in our work – but sometimeslack of focus can create shots with real emotion, mood and interest.

There are two main strategies for taking unfocused images that work:

1. Focus upon one element of the image and leave your main subject blurred. To do this use a large aperture which will

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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create a narrow depth of field and focus upon something in front of or behind your subject.

Photo by Jeff Kubina

2. Leave the full image out of focus. To do this again choose a wide aperture but focus well in front or behind anything thatis in your image (you’ll need to switch to manual focussing to achieve this).

These kinds of shots can be incredibly dreamy and mysterious.

Portrait by peskymac

17. Introduce Movement

Portraits can be so static – but what if you added some movement into them? This can be achieved in a few ways:

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Photo by Michael Sarver

by making your subject moveby keeping your subject still but having an element in the scene around them moveby moving your camera (or it’s lens to achieve a zoom burst)

Portrait by philippe leroyer

The key with the above three methods is to use a slow enough shutter speed to capture the movement.

The alternative is to have your subject obviously move fast but to use a shutter speed so fast that it ‘freezes’ theirmovement.

18. Experiment with Subject Expressions

In some portraits it is the expression on the face of your subject that makes the image.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Get your subject to experiment with different moods and emotions in your image. Play with extreme emotions

Portrait by carf

But also try more sombre or serious type shots

Photo by Stuck in Customs

19. Fill the Frame

One way to ensure that your subject captures the attention of the viewer of your portrait is to fill the frame with their face.

It’s not something that you’d do in every shot that you take – but if your subject is the only feature in the shot – there’sreally nowhere else to look.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Portrait by kkelly2007

20. Find an Interesting Subject

I have a friend who regularly goes out on the streets around Melbourne looking for interesting people to photograph.

When he finds someone that he finds interesting he approaches them, asks if they’d pose for him, he quickly finds a suitablebackground and then shoots off a handful of shots quickly (if they give him permission of course).

The result is that he has the most wonderful collection of photographs of people of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds.

While many of us spend most of our time photographing our loved ones – perhaps it’d be an interesting exercise to shootinteresting strangers once in a while?

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Portrait by .mushi_king

What Did I Miss?

So there you have it. 20 ways to add variety to your portraits (including yesterday’s 10 tips). But what have I missed thatyou’d add? I’m sure if we put our heads together we could come up with plenty of other techniques and ideas to add a littlevariety to our portrait photography. Looking forward to reading your suggestions in comments below.

Get more portrait photography tips here.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips-portrait-photography[26-May-12 8:21:43 PM]

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Read more from our Portrait Photography Category

Darren Rowse is the editor and founder of Digital Photography School. He lives in Melbourne Australia and is also theeditor of the ProBlogger Blog Tips. Follow him on Instagram on his 'darrenrowse' account, on Twitter at @digitalPS or onGoogle+.

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132 Responses to “10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography” - Add Yours

1. john piercy Says:

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips-portrait-photography[26-May-12 8:21:43 PM]

July 11th, 2008 at 12:42 am

Excellent Article DarrenI dont shoot much in the way of portraits , this will give me some more inspiration to get out there look people in theface .

2. Rosh Says: July 11th, 2008 at 12:54 am

This is an even more interesting group compared to the first ten. I believe when thinking of new ideas throw out atleast the first five because you’ve seen them before. The creativity really starts after that.

The motion and focus images are fun.

Roshhttp://www.newmediaphotographer.com

3. Sonny Parlin Says: July 11th, 2008 at 1:04 am

Thank you for sharing, these are great tips, can’t wait to start experimenting!

4. Scott Fillmer Says: July 11th, 2008 at 1:10 am

Wow, great list… I love the last shot, so crisp and sharp. I like movement but it has to be done carefully (which Iusually am not). I like it when there is at least a point of sharp focus if there is movement in the rest of the image.Great shots.

5. Pete Langlois Says: July 11th, 2008 at 1:13 am

Another great set of tips.

I am thinking of picking up a 12-24 Tokina to experiment with wide angles.

Petehttp://www.petelanglois.net

6. Seim Effects Says: July 11th, 2008 at 1:34 am

Good tips. It’s always good to think on your feet and and be ready to take on a new challenge even if it’s outside thecomfort zone.

Gavin Seim

7. AC Says: July 11th, 2008 at 1:50 am

Great tips. Now only if I did something with them….

8.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Jason Says: July 11th, 2008 at 2:59 am

Great tips indeed, nice to see I’m on the right track with some of them!

9. Anurag Says: July 11th, 2008 at 3:26 am

Great tips.

10. Mandy Says: July 11th, 2008 at 4:04 am

Wow I thought yesterday’s were good, these really make me think outside of the box…

I might have to start doing some more portrait work!

11. Julia Says: July 11th, 2008 at 7:16 am

as someone who is just starting out, thank you so much for the tips. super helpful.

12. Megapixelicious Says: July 11th, 2008 at 8:43 am

This is again another great post and I even think that it tops the first post. Again, I really like the simplicity of theadvices and how well they are put into context thanks to great examples!

13. Scott Bourne Says: July 11th, 2008 at 10:39 am

Wow this was well thought-out and written. Thanks.

The only tip I could add I learned while shooting fashion in New York City in the old days. . .try using a super-telephoto lens. Back in the day, long lenses were all the rage for fashion work since they tend to help flatter themodels and minimize backgrounds.

I use 300, 400 and even 500mm lenses for portraits.

14. rahmad Says: July 11th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

Thanks, I’ll try with wide angles

15. c3l5o Says: July 11th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

Simple advices are simple to remember! This makes me love the concept of these two posts.

I have to say that this is very inspiring indeed, I’m eager to go and do some experiences tomorrow! And I think I’mgoing to do a post on my blog about these two articles.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Best Regards and thanks for the tips!

16. AminoSC Says: July 11th, 2008 at 7:58 pm

Nice set of guidelines everyone should follow.

17. Olivia Bell Says: July 11th, 2008 at 10:00 pm

I’ve recently been exploring photography with the help of my sisters (they’re my models ).

These tips are great, especially the story of your friend who asks strangers to pose for him/her.

Thank you

18. dimaks Says: July 11th, 2008 at 11:02 pm

hmn, shoot the non-traditional way. anyway, these are great line up of tips. thanks for sharing.

19. Just Kelly Says: July 11th, 2008 at 11:17 pm

Hey, another great bunch of tips. And I like the examples here even better

If I could add just one thing, though, these tips are great if you’re comfortable enough with the basic rules ofphotography that you understand not only what works, but *why* it works and *when* it doesn’t. Make sure you canreliably get the right exposure, understand the rule of thirds, etc, before you start moving off the beaten track like insome of these examples. It’s like my old supervisor in the ‘service used to say: “First you get to where you know therules. Then you get to where you understand the rules. THEN you get to where you break the rules.”

But once you’ve got a solid foundation under your feet (so to speak), these are some excellent techniques to take yourwork in different directions. Some of course (11, 18 and 20 in particular) are always great ideas.

Anyway, enjoyed this series very much. Can’t wait to see all the great portraits that are gonna come out of it!

20. Chandoo Says: July 12th, 2008 at 4:21 am

Thanks for sharing these tips, I liked both the sets very much, will try some of these things when shooting next

21. Cinnamon Says: July 12th, 2008 at 4:37 am

I really LOVE these tips…and will apply them to my photography! As a newbie…there’s so much to take in…thank youALL for your tips, too!

Happy shooting all!

22. Cinnamon Says: July 12th, 2008 at 4:37 am

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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I really LOVE these tips…and will apply them to my photography! As a newbie…there’s so much to take in…thank youALL for your tips, too!

Happy shooting, all!

23. Janet Giacoma Says: July 12th, 2008 at 5:15 am

Excellent! Such a departure from your traditional “stand still while I take your picture!”

24. kathaclysm Says: July 12th, 2008 at 9:40 am

I know this is about portraits, but I think I’d add to this: have the subject interact with the environment. People aremost often taking pictures at events and/or points of interest, so many pictures are of people just standing in front ofpoints/objects of interest, but it’s always nice if you catch your subjects interacting with the environment. Wear theEiffel tower as a hat, stick your head next to Mt. Rushmore, spread your arms before the NY city skyline, cut thebirthday cake, kiss in front of the church, act like you’re catching a ball at the stadium; point at, get in, or play withthe environment whenever possible.

25. Christian Says: July 12th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

Wow, I really enjoyed both of the posts – awesome work, thanks. I am really motivated now, I am gonna go and shootmy wife (no matter how much she tries to resist).

26. Enrique Villa Says: July 12th, 2008 at 7:10 pm

Use the rules as a guideline, and break every single one of them. I believe that is one very effective way to learnabout possibilities and how to get to interesting results. No matter what, always try something new.

27. Jon Says: July 14th, 2008 at 8:54 am

Great tip. I can’t wait to try the tilt the camera suggestion.

28. Mik Says: July 15th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

Great article and I need to get out and use my camera more, seeing as I pestered the wife to let me get a newCanon!

29. James Says: July 15th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

Thanks very much!

30. Dave Says:

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips-portrait-photography[26-May-12 8:21:43 PM]

July 15th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

Great set of tips!

In our business, we get customers who want the setting, or the background changed in their photos or they just giveus their pictures and ask us to make it look much better. And they aren’t clear about what the want – except say becreative, surprise me! This set definitely gives us some creative direction when we get requests like that.

Thanks!

Davehttp://www.wowApic.com

31. Anastasia Says: July 16th, 2008 at 1:23 am

Thank you for the tips! I will be applying them in my next shoot. I cannot wait to see the results!

32. Ally Says: July 16th, 2008 at 6:54 am

I’ve always wanted to ask interesting people to take their photos, but I’m always too nervous. I don’t know what tosay. Any suggestions?

33. PS Website Design Says: July 17th, 2008 at 6:22 am

Brilliant. Thanks for pulling them into a really useful list. Very inspirational.

34. The Baldchemist Says: July 18th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

Thank you so very much for a truly great article. While some of the tips are well known you have made a verypertinent reminder of what we need to think about.Very readable and interesting. Well done. Thanks again. The Baldchemist

35. James Says: July 24th, 2008 at 11:38 am

It appears tip #21 is to have good photo editing software

36. phazeless Says: July 30th, 2008 at 1:16 am

Good tips, but what you didn’t tell them was most of these portraits were taken with extremely good optics and verywell processed, a couple I suspected even were HDRs. Regardless, thanks for the tips.

37. dude Says: July 31st, 2008 at 12:50 am

I don’t know how you would make various exposures of the same person without them moving, so HDR I don’t thinkso. Lots of channels/saturation/contrast/curves tweaking though !

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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38. Sonny Parlin Says: July 31st, 2008 at 11:41 pm

Dude,

It’s easy… most camera’s have auto exposure bracketing and continuous shooting, so you can just hold down theshutter button and get three quick exposures.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=handheld+hdr&m=text

Also, you can use software like Photomatix to tonemap single RAW files, so you can get HDR like results from oneimage.

-Sonny

39. Ali Says: August 6th, 2008 at 7:26 am

Great tips! I’m a fan of portrait photography and am always excited to learn how to improve the craft.

One tip I’d like to share is the usage of black and white. We’ve all taken a shot which we had high hopes for but themoment we’ve uploaded it onto our computers and viewed them in full size, we were sorely let down. It’s amazinghow using a photo editing software to convert the photo into b/w can often save the photo and perhaps even make ita great photo! Grainy shots–when turned to b/w–can look ultra dramatic and the same goes for blurry and unfocusedshots.

I’ve gone through some old pics of mine that I didn’t particularly like but ended up being quite satisfied with themafter turning them to black and white.

Of course, if you want to be REALLY old-school, you can always pick up a 35mm camera, slot in a b/w film and awayyou go.

40. Maeve Says: August 26th, 2008 at 4:03 am

Oh,such wonderful explanation!And great ideas!I love doing portraits but I usually just experiment with the angle of my camera!These tips can be used in nature photography as well,so thanks very much for such a amazing article !!!!!

41. tania Says: October 4th, 2008 at 2:54 am

thanks a lot for the many examples and simple writing. now let s go and try it out!

42. Chris Morin Says: October 10th, 2008 at 12:38 am

WOW.. What great shots, makes me wish my kids were little again so I could take more pictures of them… guess I’llthinghave to wait for grand kids!…

My niece did something that I’d never thought of since I live in Colorado… (She was from Texas and had never seensnow) She was staying with us with her kids and we had one of those unexpected snow falls mid October. It was thekind with huge fluffy flakes and she woke her kids up in their PJ’s put giant winter coats on over the pj’s and tookthem outside where she proceeded to take loads of pictures of them playing in the snow. This was a non-digitalcamera so after running to the 1 hour developing to get them back… the shots were AWESOME with the big fluffyflakes all around the kids some in focus some out of focus it added all this movement and excitement to the usual “lets

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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take pictures of the kids playing” shots. I’d never thought of it since I’d always waited until AFTER the snow to takepictures.

So I guess that’s a tip… take photo’s WHILE it’s snowing….

43. Yogeesh Says: October 26th, 2008 at 4:50 am

Thanks a lot. I never thought that portrait photography could be so interesting! I’ll try these out..

44. s-telios a.k.a.==> s-perfect Says: November 18th, 2008 at 9:49 pm

very interesting especially the moving people!!!!!!!!very usefull tips!! :D:D:D

45. Millard Says: December 2nd, 2008 at 7:14 am

I am in absolute awe of some of these shots!! I am going to need to practice and study much more!!

46. Mik Says: December 2nd, 2008 at 8:07 am

Some of those shots are spectacular.

47. James Says: December 13th, 2008 at 7:18 am

This is a great help for portrait photographers. I really like this site.

48. Mohamed Ghuloom Says: January 1st, 2009 at 11:56 pm

Very good tips, actually better than the first part.. I always try to go creative with my portraits.. Not creative byreading these tips (coz many others will follow them as well) but the rule is whenever some unique idea comes up, justapply it.. You gave me inspiration for many other ideas that I can apply to LENS Photography clients in Bahrain.

49. Lenard Says: January 17th, 2009 at 10:34 pm

Thank you and thank you again. Really learn a lot from you… Please keep them coming as it is very useful. Can’t waitto try it out….

50. rod fermin Says: January 22nd, 2009 at 7:43 pm

terrific! you’ve just loaded my imagination with very useful cues that i feel like applying them soonest!

thanks a lot & MORE tips, huh!

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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51. JOHNNY Says: January 23rd, 2009 at 1:27 am

Wow!

52. Ali Says: January 28th, 2009 at 11:29 pm

Perfect tipsThanks

53. Rizwan Says: January 30th, 2009 at 2:28 am

thanks a lot ! this is exactly what i was looking for.can’t wait to try these

54. christos Says: January 31st, 2009 at 12:10 pm

inspiring tips and stunning effects..thank you from an aspiring photographer..

55. Bind Rathore Says: February 6th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Great Tips, very much useful. Thanks a Lot for sharing such valuable inputs.

56. Jasmine Says: February 13th, 2009 at 4:19 am

I think holding your camera at some sort of angle is a great way to capture peoples attention and to make it look alittle more interesting in some way and form. Also with the lighting it makes it pop out.

57. MODZ Says: February 17th, 2009 at 11:35 am

thanks alot. i really learned some techniques!

58. Alejandro Says: February 21st, 2009 at 1:55 am

Gorgeous concepts!!…Thanks you very much!

59. Chris Says: March 4th, 2009 at 12:36 am

Thanks so much for sharing these techniques….. great fodder for future shoots.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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60. gopherpoo Says: March 10th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

I find that at functions, standing back from the crowd and taking pictures of evone interacting with each other worksreally well. U capture a lot of natural emotions without needing to ask anyone to pose….

All in all, superb set of tips. Can’t wait to try!!!

61. Ruel Says: March 12th, 2009 at 4:30 pm

Seeing these 20 tips – Now, i feel like i’m in trouble…. i need to get rid of my compact camera and go DSLR, but mywife will kill me if she see’s me with a new camera and not the one she gave. Hahaha….

62. lisamona Says: March 17th, 2009 at 4:19 pm

i really enjoy reading and viewing the photos. i have learned so much just by reading your tips thankyou so much. imhoping maybe one day i will be able to take photos as good as some of the photos i am able to view. thanks to you.

thanks lisamona

63. Vimal Kumar Says: March 17th, 2009 at 11:49 pm

I got to learn so much to learn about portrait photography after reading these two articles. I am really thankful to youfor the information passed on. I am gearing up to try these options..

ThanksVimal Kumar

64. Janie K Says: April 2nd, 2009 at 9:55 am

Thank you, so well written and the examples are spot on. It’s great to be reminded of some of these things andrefreshed with some new ideas!

65. Annon Says: April 2nd, 2009 at 10:22 pm

Short and simple, but powerful tips, thanks

66. Nicole Alfonzo Says: April 3rd, 2009 at 3:55 am

thanks for the tips, honestly i learn so much from your site :]]

67. Tilak Jaiswal Says: April 3rd, 2009 at 6:04 am

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips-portrait-photography[26-May-12 8:21:43 PM]

Great tips for the beginners

68. Thalys Says: April 3rd, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Thanx Darren for sharing your knowledge. If ever I had been hesitating to buy a SLR then I’m no more. I had a pointand shot till now and it’s so frustrating. I love shooting portraits of my kids and family and even strangers. Now I thinkI have many ways to vary and have pleasure ! Again, thank you !!

69. vvn Says: April 6th, 2009 at 1:49 am

Darren… Inspiration is the greatest teacher and you have certainly inspired me. I’m a graphic designer moving back tophotography, looking for manual control but also portability as I always want to have the camera with me. Need to getaway from the tiny point and shoot tho ; ). If only I could decide on the right camera purchase that will allow forcreativity with depth of field etc, while also fitting budget and purse. Any recommendations there will be appreciated.

These 2 portrait tips are the first newsletters after subscribing and I love them. Will be a regular from here out. Thankyou.

70. peter k Says: April 7th, 2009 at 3:44 am

Know what ? I’ve seen here a couple of portraites with which not even Nadav Kander wouldn’t be ashemed ! Excelent!I, personaly, use for portrait the Minolta 50mm f1.7 on my Sony A350, and I like it a lot !

71. Paul Fako Says: April 7th, 2009 at 7:14 am

I hope that Pete ended up with that Tokina 12-24 wide angle. You will find that this range puts you where you wantto be with nearly a super close-up combined with the linger 24mm for judging your shots better. Use all the range ofthis lens for some great stuff. I am must a raw amateur and this lens put in the serious mode rahter than just playingaround with my Canon Rebel, Mag body original of course. The glass in this lens is amazing for the price, which isabout 1/2 of what a Canon of the same range would have cost me.

PRF

72. Gareng Says: April 8th, 2009 at 12:17 pm

Nice sharing … thanks. I’ll try this tips ….

73. Matt Says: April 8th, 2009 at 7:31 pm

Fantastic tips. I’ve looked quite a lot for advice on portraits because it’s an area which I sometimes find difficult andthis is probably the best page i’ve seen on the subject. The examples are fantastic and inspiring. I can’t wait to get outthere and experiment.

74. Libby4Z-Tune Says: April 10th, 2009 at 12:41 pm

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips-portrait-photography[26-May-12 8:21:43 PM]

Thanks for the emphasis on creating creative photos, D! These days, it’s rather difficult to find photographers who arelike-minded. Who thinks it is in creating the shots that makes the photos, not necessarily the post-production. Or arewe the “endangered species”?

75. vonda Says: April 21st, 2009 at 11:45 pm

Never before have I thought these great tips, Very appreciated, and I will be giving them a “shot”.

76. vonda Says: April 21st, 2009 at 11:46 pm

Never before have I thought of these great tips, Very appreciated, and I will be giving them a “shot”.

77. athul Says: April 25th, 2009 at 4:52 pm

hey darren,very nice article.. informative 4 a beginner like me… thanks….

78. Aaron Says: April 29th, 2009 at 7:41 am

Great tips, I like the one where the guy is standing still while everything else is moving

79. Blasco Fernandes Says: May 4th, 2009 at 5:15 pm

I am an amateur photographer in Goa, India, and love taking pictures, so I am sure your tips on taking portraits willdefinitely be useful. Thanks.

80. Hardeep Singh Says: May 8th, 2009 at 7:29 pm

Its the first time I have seen your blog, and I have found it interesting. This is definitely a good set of tips to keep inone’s mind while doing a portrait.

81. Jenna Says: May 18th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

I found this really helpfull.I’m doing a photography assignment now on non-traditional portraiture.We have to take photographs of people but we cant show their face but they still have to say something about theperson.Any ideas to help me?

82. Hems Zwier Says: May 22nd, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Great article Darren! Loved it and did a RT on twitter!

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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83. Kim Says: June 1st, 2009 at 12:39 am

I loved these tips for portrait photography—some I’ve tried to do, but your explanation gives me better direction. Can’twait to try some of them!

84. jamie wiggins Says: June 1st, 2009 at 6:55 am

these tips are really great. im starting to really get into photography, so learning new techniques makes me even moreexcited to go shoot.

one tip you could add that can really draw the viewer’s eye is to use “leading lines”

85. Norah T Says: June 4th, 2009 at 12:09 am

Signing up for this is the best move I have made in decades!!! I love to take pictures because I am ascrapbooker….my family history is recorded in my albums and future generations will look back at the photos. I wantthem to tell the story of my familys life: past,present and future! With your help and generous teaching, I think it ispossible!! Thanks for the amazing info and examples!!!

86. SueLucas Says: June 13th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

Great tips indeed! Each day, I look forward to seeing what’s new in DPS – This is by far the best photo site on the net.Darren, you’ve got me hooked!

87. Curtis Copeland Says: June 17th, 2009 at 3:16 am

Fabulous tips on portrait photography. Thanks for the tutorial!

88. Paul Langereis Says: June 20th, 2009 at 9:52 am

Hi Darren,

I have learned so much since i became a member of DPS, and these tips on portrait photography have inspired me totry new things. Fantastic tips!

89. Pssequimages Says: July 1st, 2009 at 2:20 am

Thank you SO MUCH. This was just a wonderful set of tips, and a great article.

90. MARIO NARANJO MOLINA Says: July 1st, 2009 at 3:23 am

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Hi Darren,I´m fairly new as a member of DPS. I find it quite interesting but I´ll have to go along finding out in the differenttutorials. I´m a painter myself and very fond, in general, of the world of images so if you want to give me your opinionon my works I´ll be so pleased. Hugs, I´ll be in touch.

91. Brenda Turton Says: July 7th, 2009 at 11:23 am

Hi DarrenI’m extremely pleased and very grateful to receive your helpful tips on portraits which will help me, no end.Best Regards, Brenda Turton

92. The Nonsense Society Says: July 13th, 2009 at 5:22 am

Phenomenal Tips! Thank you!

93. Bronx Boy Says: July 22nd, 2009 at 7:54 pm

Some stimulating ideas. Makes me want to getstarted. Where are those grandchildren…my free models. The framingexample was especially challenging. Thanks

94. Ajith Says: August 1st, 2009 at 6:08 pm

great tips! as a novice to DSLRs, i am still lerning and experimenting. these tips would definitely come handy at somepoint or another. many thanks for sharing them.

95. Bonii Jo Says: August 3rd, 2009 at 9:46 am

Enjoyed this very much. Am applying it now. Thanks!

96. Chiranjib Majumdar Says: August 16th, 2009 at 3:29 pm

Thank you so much Darren!!! I am an amateur photographer but am trying to do it seriously…. Your tips are soencouraging…..

97. Milimo Hanyoolo Says: August 21st, 2009 at 6:59 am

Again amazing tips i’m definate to try in my next shots…!!!Thanx

98. stanley Says: August 26th, 2009 at 7:02 pm

WoW!! great tips!!! I must try the lesson now!! I have learned so much since i became a member of DPS. Thanks a lot.

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99. Bob Gruetter Says: August 27th, 2009 at 7:40 pm

I have been photographing for over 40 years, and after reading these 20 tips, I relived some of my past and thoughtabout things I used to do. Thank you for these as I had grown a little locked in on how, rather than enjoy what.

Bob

100. Marilyn Says: September 4th, 2009 at 1:01 am

Thank you!!! for opening my eyes! and teaching me how to break the rules! I love it!

101. Adit Says: September 6th, 2009 at 10:01 am

This gives me a new perspective of shooting portraits. Can’t wait to start experimenting!

102. shar Says: September 26th, 2009 at 3:27 am

Thanks for great set of tips! I’m a total newbie in DSLR photography. I have one questions: how was the third portraitfrom the last taken? The one with the little boy in a hat, with blurred farmhouse at the back. Please let me know!thanks!

103. jennyburger Says: September 27th, 2009 at 4:27 pm

These are great tips. Useful advice for a photographer who’s run dry. All that’s needed now?…10 or 20 MORE! Thanksa lot!

104. Manish Sanga Says: September 28th, 2009 at 6:56 pm

Gr8 tips with a stunning vision , they will certainly go a long way wid me, Thanx a ton

105. Mitchell Says: October 20th, 2009 at 3:46 am

I love your advice! Keep the party goin man!

106. lampi Says: October 21st, 2009 at 4:29 pm

Good piece of advice! I will try some of the suggested techniques

107. someone Says: December 14th, 2009 at 9:35 pm

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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nice tips only if I had a couple of DSLRs and a bunch of super lenses….

108. Swiss JHG Photo Says: December 16th, 2009 at 6:31 am

That’s nice addition to the first 10 tips… would be nice to have them into one page for printing it in a friendly way!

109. shuhan Says: January 7th, 2010 at 3:19 pm

thanks for tha advise…im a new photographer and after reading these i khow many things…..thanks darren…wish u allthe best and keep sending tips.

110. Mei Teng Says: January 13th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

I am not so sure about the unfocused shots. Makes my feel somewhat dizzy looking at those images. But a techniqueworth experimenting with. Thanks for sharing these tips.

111. Photo Editing Says: March 31st, 2010 at 10:16 pm

It’s really great post, nice blog..I would like to appreciate your work and would like to tell to my friends.

112. LexaRae Says: April 15th, 2010 at 4:21 am

I love these tips!It helped me put words to what i already do, and what I have always wanted to learn.Thank you so much! These tips are going to help me be so much more successful in my upcoming business!

113. Headshot NYC Says: April 19th, 2010 at 2:28 pm

Any modification of the color saturation and cropping makes for a better headshot immediately and distinguishes itfrom a snapshot.

114. Josh Warner Says: May 5th, 2010 at 2:42 am

Wow, I thought I was pretty good at taking portraits that make the subject pop out, but these are just amazing. I willdefinitely try to employ these tips in future photography. Thanks, I will order a copy of this E-Book the second I getthe money. Thanks again.

115. Meeshell Says: May 13th, 2010 at 12:44 am

Mimi says Very nice, High Five. [:

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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116. ramandeep Says: May 26th, 2010 at 11:07 pm

i really love all these pics. good job people. soon i be as good as u guys

117. Mr. Pekka Kononen Says: June 10th, 2010 at 5:26 pm

Thank you very much of the very comprehensive and pro like tips for great portraits.I suddenly found that taking portraits is an area that interests me a lot. I found it, when I happened to shoot thispicture of my youngest grandchild. Happy summer!

118. dennis iannuzzi Says: June 10th, 2010 at 10:27 pm

I enjoyed your comments and images,I have been a photographer for 40 years and I am still finding much enjoymentin the media. I work mostly in the larger format but also use a digital camera.Dennis I

119. Sunita Says: July 17th, 2010 at 8:23 am

those were excellent tips! i can’t find anything as easy to understand and simple.also, i love that you have accompanying images to demonstrate what you’re talking about.i’m going to try them out right now!!!thank you!

120. Designer Scarves Says: August 24th, 2010 at 10:39 pm

Another great entry. I have been experimenting with High key and high contrast portrait which seems to produce goodresults. I sometimes find that asking the model/person you are shooting to “free-style” helps in getting me out of mycomfort zone and find new ideas that way.

121. Rahel Says: October 4th, 2010 at 7:55 pm

great tips. am attaching a recently taken shot by me for your review comments.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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122. Sebastien Genet Says: November 12th, 2010 at 8:52 am

I often like to shoot from the top and ask the subject to look up. This is an example:

123. Sebastien Genet Says: November 12th, 2010 at 8:53 am

124. Sebastien Genet Says: November 12th, 2010 at 8:55 am

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastiengenet/4433013720/in/set-72157603872677604/lightbox/

125. Chandira Says: November 17th, 2010 at 4:39 am

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Thank you thank you!! Great ideas. A friend has asked me to take his photo for a website, and this has given me somegreat ideas!

He’s an ‘out of the box’ character, and said I can play, so I will have some fun with this now..

126. John Cordova Says: May 20th, 2011 at 5:53 pm

Wow! Very good list(s). I was amazed to see that the vast majority of things you mention in the list are things that weare already doing, instinctively. Good to know that our instincts are right on the money. I love your little tidbits andinjections of personality. That’s what makes a great portrait to us.

Keep up the good work! We will be reading.

127. Yasmine Says: December 21st, 2011 at 12:49 pm

These are great tips!I love them

Here is another interesting way of taking pictures.

A picture in a picture or some other lens.

They usually come out great.

128. White Petal Wedding Photography Devon Says: December 30th, 2011 at 3:29 am

Good post and good advice, of course there are some really good subjects in there too which helps. Like it +++

129. Jondaar Says: December 30th, 2011 at 4:19 pm

Great amount of info & tips, very informative.Will experiment & see what comes out.

Great stuff! Cheers

130. audio Says: January 25th, 2012 at 2:19 am

Thanks for every other informative web site. The place else may I am getting that type of information written in suchan ideal way? I have a project that I’m simply now working on, and I have been at the look out for such information.

131. Yucel Says: March 13th, 2012 at 6:21 am

Another great list… got ideas on how to get people to vary their expressions?

Sometimes the stiffest are … the stiffest…???

132.

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

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Pam Says: March 21st, 2012 at 2:15 am

Thanks for sharing. I would have never thought of taking portraits like this. I am just starting out. This is very helpful.Thank you

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