Taking Portraits

If you have access to the relevant equipment, imagine that you have been asked by a client to take a fairly formal portrait photograph – for example a graduation portrait. (Commercial photographers take hundreds of these in a day at graduation ceremonies.)

The main point of this exercise is to get to grips with studio lighting so experiment with your lighting effects and make notes in
your learning log or blog.

The next two projects return to a historical theme but also give you the opportunity to explore different styles of portrait photography for yourself.

Keep an eye on the composition too, though. Remember some ‘rules’ for general portraiture:
• When you’re composing an image, generally keep the eyes in the top third of the image unless you specifically require a different effect.
• Don’t be afraid to come in close or go out to include background.
• Remember the rule of thirds and frame the subject to be the point of attention.
(Look on the internet to remind yourself about the rule of thirds and its application to photographic composition if you need to. This is a rule taken straight from classical art.)

If you haven’t got the necessary equipment to attempt the practical exercise, contact a local photographic studio and ask if you can spend some time there watching how they work. If you explain that you’re a student on a degree level photography course they may be only too happy to show you what they know – and you’ll get some inside information on the merits and demerits of various types of equipment. This would be a valuable experience even if you do have your own studio lighting.