Question

[xXRiot!PhotographerXx]

Hi. I'm going to be doing a photoshoot of my friend at Schabarum Park which is a beautiful place and its my 2nd attempt of taking pictures of someone and i'm an amateur photographer. I just want to know if you guys have any advice or tips which would really help.



thanks.
Steven.

[imported_JeromeL]

That's a very broad question my friend! For portraits I guess I'll take a shot.

Get there early, scope out spots and know where you're going with the shoot.

Interact with your subject. This helps bring out natural expressions with them. Don't just shoot and chimp (looking at the back of the screen), the first few are ok, but once you have your exposure dialed keep clicking and KEEP talking!

Try something new!

Hope this helps.

[xXRiot!PhotographerXx]

thank you for the advice i will do that.

[DCruzan]

Take a large piece of white poster board/construction paper or a white umbrella. Take another person with you. If the face has any shadows on it, have someone stand next to your subject facing the sun and this will eliminate the shadows. I person wearing a white shirt will do the same thing. Make sure there are no shadows from leaves, these are nearly impossible to fix in PS.

Find the best angle for her face. If she has one eye bigger then the other, shot from the size of the bigger eye, it will hide the flaw. Shoot some in color and some in bw. Stand with your camera at her eye level, this will help to make her jawline show in the shots correctly.

Make sure your camera is set to portraits, this will help with your contrast.

Natural shade is the best place for shooting outside portraits.

[DCruzan]

Make her laugh and have fun. My last shoot with a young girl, I told her she was a super model, to strike a post and she had fun....

[DCruzan]

Oh and if you have one use a tripod.

[Abel]

steven what camera/lens do you have that you plan to use?

[Snarfy]

for beginners (heck, even for pro's) there's few lighting mods more nifty than a large piece of white foam core. it's one i got when i first started to expand my lighting knowledge.

go to your local art supply store and buy a huge foam core board and some spray-on adhesive. head home and grab the tinfoil out of the kitchen. mount and cover one side of the board with the tinfoil and bam! you have a double-sided reflector. the silver side creates a harsh direct light, the white side makes a softer elegant light, so you're free to use it however needed.

it doesn't bounce circular light as do modern light dishes (unless you take the time to either cut it round, or mask off a circle), however, it's a great tool to have around when you have willing lighting assistant handy.

naturally, this tool is effective almost exclusively to daytime outdoor shooting.

[DCruzan]

Well I like my white paper, I can roll it up easy.

[xXRiot!PhotographerXx]

Well to answer your question Abel I have an Olympus E-410. That's my main camera that I use.