Digital Photography CamerasOutdoor Portrait Photography
Ins and Outs Of Outdoor Portrait Photography
By : Herlina Widjajati
Portrait Photography
Many amateur photographers believe that in order to get better outdoor portraits, all they need is an expensive camera for instance, a DSLR but that is far from the truth. A beginner must start learning how to take good portrait photographs using a beginner’s camera and then advance on to a complicated camera like a DSLR, after they have learned to apply the basics. You can start learning portrait photography with a DSLR, if you want to but you must be comfortable using the camera in the manual mode. This will definitely require you to set the right exposure settings of the camera including the white balance and the f-stop.
Taking better outdoor portraits is much easier than taking photographs indoor because you get loads of natural light that you can play with but it can also be tricky at the same time. The best time to take outdoor photographs is either early morning or late afternoon when the light of the sun is soft and warm bringing out features of your subjects. You can also take Outdoor Portrait Photography when it is cloudy outside with a little bit of wind to give a naturally wind-swept look to your subject.
When taking photographs outside, you can take advantage of the natural surroundings to focus mainly on the eyes of the subject. While it is harder to bring out the color of the eyes in indoor lighting, a good sunlight exposure will bring out the softness or the sharpness of the subject’s eyes. In addition, you must always try to take Outdoor Portrait Photography at anything above a 50mm or preferably, anything above 70mm. Using anything less than that, can cause distortion and may even give your client the chance to complain because most people don’t like to be photographed from a close-up.
Many expert photographers believe that better outdoor portraits can be taken under the shade and not in direct sunlight. Usually this is true because you can focus on the natural complexion of the subject avoiding harsh shadows and white balance problems that direct sunlight is known for. If you want the sunlight to fall directly on your subject’s face then you have to be a little careful. To take better outdoor portraits with direct sunlight, never put the subject with their back to the camera, which will make them look dark.
You cannot have the subject looking in the sun’s direction either as they will have to squint. Therefore, you can try to have them stand towards the sun but look away from the sun so they do not have to squint. Try to use this tactic when the sun is at a low, during the late afternoon or when the sun is behind a cloud to avoid the harsh sunlight distort your subject’s features.
Specifically, when you are shooting on a cloudy day, you can get better outdoor portraits. It is very important to account for the custom white balance. If you want to understand outdoor photography, you need to know your camera inside out and you also need to understand how natural light works when the sun is out and when the sky is overcast.
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