Choosing the Right Background
The background will set the mood for your photo, so be extra careful when choosing yours. The ideal background will guide the viewers’ focus to a specific area that you wish to draw attention to, for example, the face.
A neutral, soft colored background will work best and is far more effective than one that is filled with too many details and colors.
You may wish to also blur the background, in order to further emphasize the foreground elements.
Focus on the Eyes
As the saying goes, “the eyes are the window to the soul”.
Different feelings can be conveyed, depending on the direction in which the subject’s eyes are pointing. Play with this by having your subject look in various directions, until you are happy with the feeling that is portrayed.
Adding extras such as a smile, frown, or grin is a bonus that amplifies the main focal point of the photo.
Lighting, Lighting and more Lighting
The possibilities for lighting are truly infinite. Lighting is the most important element in any photo composition and sets the mood, feeling and character of your photo.
Sunlight can be a bit tricky. If you take a portrait in the daytime, make sure that your photo is not overpowered by the sun.
Positioning and Angles
Don’t limit yourself to horizontal and vertical portraits; after all, those aren’t the only two angles that exist.
Positioning your camera at creative diagonal angles can add a fantastic artistic flare to your image.
An easy mistake to make is to only slightly position your camera at an angle, which can leave your viewers wondering if this was intentional or a mistake. If you’re going for an interesting angle, make it obvious and clear that that’s what you intended to do, as shown in the example below.
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