Studio Portrait Tips - Studio Photo

Studio Portrait

Capturing great portrait is a great genre of photography in the studio portrait. Some of the most famous photographs in the world and even paintings are simple head and shoulder portraits. They can tell us so much about the person being photographed. Think of arguably the most famous painting of all time and most people would probably say the Mona Lisa. But taking portraits also seems to be a difficult thing for new photographers to do.

Talk To Your Clients In Your Studio Portrait

It seems strange taking someone’s portrait, even in a studio portrait. But it will get so much easier if you build a rapport with the person first. Whether it’s in the studio portrait or in the street, start the shoot with a simple conversation and get to know who they are. Find out what they do, what they like, and even what their personality is like. If you can, make them laugh with a joke. Not only will all of this help build a picture of who they are which can influence the photo, but it will also mean that they are much more comfortable working with you. This, in turn, will mean that they will be more relaxed and also more comfortable to you taking their photo. Clearly, sometimes that will be difficult in travel photography, for example, when you might not speak the same language. But even then it’s amazing what a few hand gestures, a few local phrases, and a smile can achieve.

Full The Frame In Your Studio Portrait

It seems obvious, it’s amazing how often I’ve seen a portrait taken where it hasn’t been framed properly. When you are taking an environmental portrait, you need to capture some of the person’s surroundings to be able to tell a story. But when you’re doing a normal head and shoulders portrait in your studio portrait, the sole focus should be the person standing in front of you. Their face is where the focus should be, so if there are distracting elements near them or in the background try to crop those out. Often the reason that photographers end up with too many distractions in the photo is that they are too far away from their subject. So, if you find that you are not able to focus primarily on the subject’s face when taking a portrait, get closer.