Photography requires more than simply pressing a shutter release; you must learn how to utilize all of the elements around you to craft more engaging portraits.
In this photography tutorial, I will discuss composition techniques to make fashion, beauty and other types of photography more captivating by framing subjects in different ways.
One can quickly discern the difference between someone just beginning photography and someone more experienced. Experienced photographers understand what the camera sees and are adept at using elements within the frame to guide the viewers’ attention throughout and manage what they look at – there is definitely an art behind this technique!
Today we’re going to talk about photography composition tips to create better portraits.
Hello all, my name is Sal Cincotta and today we will discuss using geometric elements in portrait photography to create more compelling photographs.
Today I am here with Faron, who looks absolutely beautiful. We have three areas here we will use – triangles, circles and horizontal lines will provide interesting backgrounds for us to use as photographers when taking portraits. When working on portraits it can be easy to become stuck on just your subject alone; with everything coming together perfectly in terms of outfit, hair and makeup; however we want something a bit different so lets use those geometrical shapes to create three unique and engaging portraits! Let’s do it.
#1 Triangle
What we are doing here is firing light into the ceiling in order to create that desired look, then come closer for some tight shots – that will really show it off beautifully.
Settings: f/2.8 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/2.8 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/2.8 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/2.8 @ 1/200, ISO 200
So we captured scene one. We captured that perfect shot using flash photography with it being fired into the ceiling to soften its impact.
#2 Circle
Scene Two, Geometrical Shape Circle. We’re going back into another part of the room here and using a circle mirror to frame her up there. I may use color gels or nanlites here depending on what we find!
Faren has come over here, and I want to frame her up with that mirror. I really like that idea. Let’s remove any distracting elements from the background using Nanlites with RGB lighting so we can change their hue exactly according to RGB color scale – that should work great with her green dress! Come on, let’s do this.
Settings: f/2 @ 1/15, ISO 800
Settings: f/2 @ 1/15, ISO 800
Be careful of focusing too closely on the lighting. Nanlites are awesome lighting tools to use in our photo shoots – I can’t praise them enough; we use them a lot and can easily add color or change environments with them. But what you should notice here is my choice to frame her up as an abstract geometric element with that gold mirror framed as a geometrical frame around her face as part of this portrait; making the portrait more interesting! Sure I could have put her against a brick wall or taken photos along a long hallway – but these images look absolutely incredible so let’s keep moving forward!
Settings: f/2 @ 1/40, ISO 1600
Settings: f/2 @ 1/25, ISO 1600
Settings: f/2 @ 1/13, ISO 800
Settings: f/2 @ 1/25, ISO 1600
Settings: f/2 @ 1/25, ISO 1600
#3 Horizontal Lines
All right, so this one’s more of a challenge of a shot. My approach here is ambitious; I want horizontal lines but without any reflective light hitting them; therefore I will close off curtains behind the camera for this shot. I want to use one single light, an FJ200 strobe with a grid, to illuminate her and cast shadows onto her from some horizontal or leading lines that will cast onto her face. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time yet to set this up properly. No idea if I will struggle, but as you work you should always seek ways to challenge yourself as a photographer and do things a bit differently. Here is your shot; set it up. That looks awesome; now she has purple shadows! Now work. Faron gives me more angles — more asymmetrical — so let’s work more on that angle as well!
Settings: f/2 @ 1/80, ISO 800
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/8 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/6.3 @ 1/200, ISO 200
Settings: f/6.3 @ 1/200, ISO 200
How was that for fun!? Just goes to show that, if you want to up your photography game, look for leading lines and elements that will add dimension and make your imagery and photography shine through.
So much fun was had here! Which shot stood out most? Let us know down in the comments which one stood out most; personally I liked shooting with the circle mirror, though we also got some amazing shots firing light through shelving to create horizontal lines – let us know which one stood out to you below and we will see you in our next video!