Someone said that a true portrait should, today and a hundred years from today, the Testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he/she was. I agree. Portrait photography is all about the subject. It is about capturing the real them. It is not about the photographer. When photographing portraits, I am more motivated by how to make the subject look good than how to make my photography look good. There is a difference. The moment I make photography about me, I lose focus. When starting out your career in portrait photography, do not fall into the trap of digital manipulations, overlays etc. I do not have anything against them and they do look interesting but then it is a completely different medium of graphic design. Not photography. Learn to be a photographer first and later when you start loving your work, then maybe experiment with it.

More is not always better and less is not always good. Every photograph is different. Every subject is different. Every location is different. There is no magic sauce to the perfect photo. I consider myself as a student of photography and every day I learn something new. Keep experimenting and do not get stuck in one formula. More lights does not mean a better photo or less lights do not mean a good photo. It is all about your execution. It is about your creative vision.

The most important thing according to me, for any photographer is self-awareness. This is key to good and later great photography. Without it, you will not progress. What is self-awareness? It means you know objectively how to look at your own work and realize how bad it is. Trust me, it is going to be bad most of the time. Sometimes we get lucky. Do not go by what friends and family say on social media about your work. They will absolutely adore any crap you shoot. Instead, find some critique groups on the internet that give you a honest feedback. That is what I did. I got destroyed every time I posted my work in such groups but what I learnt was invaluable. Do I want adulations from my own circle (which shows I am better at marketing but not photography) or should I have the courage to step out of comfort zone and have my work critiqued objectively? I decided the latter as I wanted to become a better photographer. Don’t be afraid. Honest feedback is what makes us grow.

Lighting. Common misconception that it’s the light that creates the photo. No. Light and Shadows play an equal part. The above photo was shot using just one single strobe light. Placed on the camera light at a height pointing down at the subject. That’s It. This photo could also be lit differently using multiple lights but then it would become a different photo. The charm of this feel would not be there. Of course, some photos require a different lighting setup. Like the one below.

I used three lights taking this photograph. When you set out to photograph, you should always know what your photo is going to look like. Imagine. Create the photos in your mind to see the kind of images you want and then work accordingly to create them. Once you do that, it will all become pretty simple.

One thing I always do when I take a photograph. I ask myself if this photo is worthy to adorn the walls of any house or the pages of any magazine. Self-Awareness again comes into play here. Look at your composition which becomes more important when taking portraits outdoors.

When taking this photo, a lot of work went into where to keep the subjects, how much of the bridge and sky I wanted in the frame. Which angle would give a better result. What should the level of the camera be? Everything is important. You cannot fix such things in post-processing. A photographer does not leave things to be fixed in post-processing. The above image, again was shot with a single strobe and a large softbox. With so many graphic designers doing photo manipulations, it’s natural for people to wonder if the sky is real, if the background is real. I rarely add anything digitally to my photographs and never complete backgrounds. I feel it is a compliment when people ask me if the photo is real.

As I mentioned above, composition makes or breaks your outdoor portraits. The above photo is an example. How to get that “epic” feel to your portraits? Composition. Right lens, perfect lighting etc all play a part too. My advice to people starting out on portrait photography is to create your own style. Think out of the box. It is possible if you put a little bit of effort before pressing the shutter button. Think, how can this photograph be better? Be self-aware.

There is no light better than the biggest natural light source, the sun. You don’t have to use artificial lights all the time. Make use of sunlight in the right way and you can capture great portraits. Place your subject in a place where you can best use that light source and beautifully light your subject. Also, always avoid placing your subject in direct sunlight. Ideally, when shooting in broad day light, I always prefer to have the sun behind the subject and then use a small or medium sized reflector to bounce some soft light on to my subject. When shooting indoors, the sunlight coming from the window is a great way to light your subject. In the above photo, the window blinds diffused the light perfectly on to the subject.

In the above photo, I used a speed light (flash) with a small diffuser to light the subject while the sun is behind. I shot at a very narrow aperture to give that twinkle effect to the sun rays.

In the photo above, I used a strobe. My favorite strobe is a Paul C Buff Einstein e640. It is a little bulky and needs a battery on location shoots compared to the new strobes which have built in batteries and are lighter but I like the Einstein because of its power. I used a reflector dome on the light, with a CTO gel to balance the ambient light. I used a polarizer filter on my lens. First, start with the composition and then work out the rest of the details.

I haven’t gone into details on camera settings etc in detail assuming that you are well beyond the basic stage of photography. If you are just starting out and are still figuring out the various complicated (initially) terms like f-stops, aperture, shutter etc, I will write a post soon on those basics that will make you take photos with ease.

“Your mind is like a gold mine, if you dig deep you will find something golden.” — Gift Gugu Mona