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Archive 2016 · Portraits, where do I begin?

AguSt
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Portraits, where do I begin?

Hi everyone, long time lurker here and this is my first post.
My writing skills are not the best so apologies for that.

I have been shooting weddings as 2nd shooter for about 2 years and
I'd like to start doing some portrats (I do not make my living out of photography).
I have seen awesome work on this area of the forum so I would like some advice
from the experienced folks.
Where do I begin?.
At the moment I'm looking for inspiration, I have been surfing 500px (really liked portraitsbysam,lisaholloway and some russian guy) but thats about it. Any suggestions?
Do portraits need a lot of pp? If so where can i get some basics about it and ps/lr?
Any worth tutorials on the net? Creative Live ones?

Gear wise, I shoot Nikon.
Do you have any favourite lens?
What should I try?
Does the 105 DC and the Tokina 100mm macro seem overkill to you?.

Thanks.

Jun 05, 2016 at 07:17 PM

airfrogusmc
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Portraits, where do I begin?

Heres a great piece by Jay Maisel. Just click on the blue rectangle

I would look at the work of the great portrait painters. See how they used light.

Some of my all time favorite portrait photographers are:
Arnold Newman
Yousuf Karsh
Irving Penn
Richard Avedon
Dorothea Lange
Walker Evans
Many more

But really look at the great painters
Sargent
Rembrandt
Vermeer
Da Vinci
Whistler

And there are so many more.....

Jun 05, 2016 at 07:35 PM

paregorike
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Portraits, where do I begin?

Learn lighting, composition, posing and also post processing.

Look at different portrait photographers for inspiration.

Sue Bryce is an excellent portrait photographer and I also watch her videos to learn.

In terms of gear, a good 85 or longer focal length is a good start.

Jun 05, 2016 at 07:56 PM

j.curtis
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Portraits, where do I begin?

Portrait photography is about as broad as saying you want to shoot nature photography. What kind of portraits do you want to do?

First suggestion would be when you find one on here that you like PM the photographer and ask them how they shot it. Lighting, lens, etc...

Commercial portraits tend to take a lot of post work. Almost all portraits can use a little post work. That also depends on what you're looking to achieve in your portraits.

I would also just start shooting and put them up here and ask for honest critique. Then learn from the critiques. They can be tough sometimes but its a great way to learn.

Jun 05, 2016 at 07:59 PM

dmacmillan
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Portraits, where do I begin?

It's only natural that enthusiasts who are interested in pursuing a new type of photography immediately think gear. We could talk forever about gear and gear is very important in achieving the look you want, but first you've got to decide on the look you want.

The photographers you mentioned (I'm thinking the "Russian guy" may very well be Elena Shumilova) rely heavily on post processing to get their look. Some, including Elena, utilize composites, swapping out backgrounds, etc. for dramatic effect. They also use numerous adjustment layers and masks to change the white balance, contrast, etc. of small sections of their photos. All this requires a lot more than basic Photoshop skills.

The good news is that you can create quite nice portraits much more simply. Start slowly with simple setups. Shooting outdoors late in the day will usually provide flattering light with nothing more than a simple reflector, if anything at all. Using a simple setup will allow you to concentrate on interacting with your subjects. For me the heart of good portraiture is to (a) make your subjects feel at ease and (b) convey something of their nature to the viewer. Technic should be a means to that end. There's a big difference between a showy photo that has a person in it and a true portrait where you get to see something of the individual photographed.

Jun 06, 2016 at 07:50 AM

KSgal
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Portraits, where do I begin?

I can address LHolloway - you need to have a FF camera, and some very sharp, very fast telephoto lenses, (135L, 200L come to mind) and a knowledge of how to 'see' light, understanding where to put your subject in relation to the background to get the effects she does, as well as knowing photoshop.

But before all that, basic knowledge of short lighting, rim, broad lighting, rembrandt, and posing basics is really important.

Jun 06, 2016 at 12:11 PM

Ian Boys
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Portraits, where do I begin?

Watch this - iphone and a 10 dollar lamp; it's about knowledge rather than kit (says the guy with too many cameras!!):

Jun 06, 2016 at 12:49 PM

jefferies1
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Portraits, where do I begin?

If doing outside portraits I would invest in a higher power strobe that has HSS. This will allow you to shoot in the 3000-5000/sec range and control bright light. Gordex has a 600 unit under a few different brands. USA brands are Cheeta and Flashpoint sold at Adarama.Check warranty and options as they very. Next is learning post production. A lot of what you see is NOT what was shot. Especially the backgrounds. Many have heavy modifications. A shortcut to this is Lightroom. You can purchase presets to do this for you. I don't use any so cannot recommend . MCPactions is one I have seen many use with outstanding results. Sure you can find many others. A lens with at least F2.8 will be a big plus. Even F4 will get good looks but if you are stuck in F5.6 the look is not going to be there. Soft backgrounds are a must have look. As mentioned already knowing how to see good lighting. Do as much as you can with the ambiant light, then control more with the strobe and finally fine tune in post processing. Just a lot of practice.

Jun 06, 2016 at 01:02 PM

hatch1921
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Portraits, where do I begin?

Creative Live and YouTube are great resources. Also, search lighting guides or lighting diagrams. Tons of shots out there with the setups people are using. This will give you a great starting point.

Using a macro lens... perfectly fine IMO... just make sure the person has either great skin or they are using a makeup artist. As you know.. the macro lenses show every detail... good and bad.

I wouldn't spend a dime on a strobe at this point in time. Purchase a couple of 5-n-1 reflectors, 1-2 cheap light stands to hold the reflectors if you do not have someone helping out. Then... learn to light the scene with the reflectors and diffusion panels. Practice on family and friends.

Then... once you have a handle on the reflector/s, purchase a strobe. A single strobe... and use it conjunction with your reflectors. I've shot a number of portraits over the years and I typically use one light and reflectors and on some occasions, a second light is needed. Have a look at my work... some lighting guides in the lighting tips section.

Since you have some experience with weddings/shooting, you shouldn't have a problem picking up the lighting. The hard part IMO and I still struggle with this... posing. Posing is a challenge... it takes work/practice and it is unique to each person. You want to bring out the best look/pose in them... so... practice and read up or watch videos. Again... I still struggle with this. Sue Bryce ... Creative Live.com ... she is a master IMO. Watch her work...she does an amazing job of bringing out the best poses/looks in her clients.

Hope some of this helps... lots of great advice in the thread. Start with the very basics and work other tools/techniques into the mix.

Hatch

Jun 06, 2016 at 01:13 PM

AguSt
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Portraits, where do I begin?

airfrogusmc wrote:
Heres a great piece by Jay Maisel.

Huge piece of advice, ill keep it mind.
---------------------------------------------

paregorike wrote:
Learn lighting, composition, posing and also post processing.

Look at different portrait photographers for inspiration.

Sue Bryce is an excellent portrait photographer and I also watch her videos to learn.

I'll look up for her work.
---------------------------------------------

dmacmillan wrote:
It's only natural that enthusiasts who are interested in pursuing a new type of photography immediately think gear. We could talk forever about gear and gear is very important in achieving the look you want, but first you've got to decide on the look you want.

The photographers you mentioned (I'm thinking the "Russian guy" may very well be Elena Shumilova) rely heavily on post processing to get their look. Some, including Elena, utilize composites, swapping out backgrounds, etc. for dramatic effect. They also use numerous adjustment layers and masks to change the white balance, contrast, etc. of small sections...Show more →

I saw her work some time ago, I like it but it is not my cup of tea.
Really heavy pp seems kind of unreal to me.
By the way this is the guy I was talking about Georgy Chernyadyev.
Gorgeus models, pro makeup , beautiful light. As far as I can tell there's not so much pp in
his outdoor work, I might be wrong since im a beginner, feel free to correct me.
---------------------------------------------

Ian Boys wrote:
Watch this - iphone and a 10 dollar lamp; it's about knowledge rather than kit

Yeah pretty much, knowledge>gear, but you still need some tools to make things happen.
---------------------------------------------

hatch1921 wrote:
The hard part IMO and I still struggle with this... posing. Posing is a challenge... it takes work/practice and it is unique to each person. You want to bring out the best look/pose in them... so... practice and read up or watch videos. Again... I still struggle with this. Sue Bryce ... Creative Live.com ... she is a master IMO. Watch her work...she does an amazing job of bringing out the best poses/looks in her clients.

Hatch

The guy who I shoot for is really gifted when dealing with people, seems like natural for him
I been watching him for some time, seems like joking, making it fun, relaxes most people.
I've learned a lot from him in this matter and still do.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply and giving me advice, guidelines, etc.
Feel free to add anything.
Bye.

Jun 06, 2016 at 04:44 PM

dmacmillan
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Portraits, where do I begin?

AguSt wrote:
I saw her work some time ago, I like it but it is not my cup of tea.
Really heavy pp seems kind of unreal to me.
By the way this is the guy I was talking about Georgy Chernyadyev.
Gorgeus models, pro makeup , beautiful light. As far as I can tell there's not so much pp in
his outdoor work, I might be wrong since im a beginner, feel free to correct me.

I looked up Georgy Chernyadyev. I liked a lot of his work. All of his work including the outdoor photos, have had a TON of post processing work done.

I find it interesting that you didn't care for Elena's work but listed Lisa Holloway's work as some you like, especially since you didn't care for the heavy PP. Elena and Lisa are two peas in a pod. Both do heavy PP. Both do more fantasy illustrations than portraits.

Jun 06, 2016 at 05:45 PM

AguSt
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Portraits, where do I begin?

dmacmillan wrote:
I looked up Georgy Chernyadyev. I liked a lot of his work. All of his work including the outdoor photos, have had a TON of post processing work done.

I was in his website minutes ago and saw the retouch section

I need to train my eye about heavy pp, thanks for the heads up.

Jun 06, 2016 at 06:10 PM


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