Surreal Color Photograhy Portrait Tips

Surreal Color Photography Portrait Tips
Copyright 2002, 2007 (HOME contact me )
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References are many, many, but two that I own and recommend are: Portrait Photographer's Handbook, and Light Science & Magic
The best online tips for portrait photography are at photographytips.com's portrait tips page A must read!
Camera Lens & Settings

Optimal Zoom: The best zoom to use (for bust to 3/4 length shots of subjects) is a lens with zoom that is twice the diagonal of the film/sensor size. I.e. 70-85mm for a 35mm film.

Lowest Zoom: 50mm for 35mm, but exaggerates facial features. Good for full body or small group shots.

Highest Zoom: 200-250mm, but highest tends to flatten features and forces you to shoot too far from the subject. Good for face shots where low DOF is needed.

Sweet Spot Aperture: Usually lenses are rated so that the sharpest f-stop is 1.5-2 stops smaller/lower than the lowest f-stop (i.e. for an f/2 lens, f/4 is often the sharpest).

The lower apertures (f/2-4) have spherical aberrations. Higher apertures (f/16 +) have diffraction. Both tend to reduce sharpness.

Shutter speeds: Minimum shutter is 1/focal length. Tripod for slower than 1/50. Using flash but slowing shutter to 1/30 will bring up ambient light. Outdoor breezy needs at least 1/60. Stationary standing subject needs at least 1/50. Walkers need 1/100, and runners need 1/250 to freeze action.

Center-weight or Spot Meter in anything but diffuse or flat studio lighting.

Poses

Eyes: The eyes are often the most important part of the subject. Middle of the focus field should be on the eyes. During a long shoot, the eyes wander and get bored easily. Use a remote trigger and engage the subject in talk, getting good smiles from humor or exciting stories. Mix up where they look—at the camera, at you, into their own memories. The eyelids should be open but only enough to expose the iris without any whites showing on top or bottom edges of the lids. If the pupils are too small—giving beady-eyes—from bright lighting, have the subject close their eyes prior to the shot. Large pupils give a vacant look—have them stare at the lights before the shot.

Mouth: Variety is good. Some smiling, some serious, but all relaxed without tensing facial muscles and yet keeping the mouth either completely closed or open in a broad toothy smile (when appropriate). Natural smiles are hard to get. Try praising them, telling humorous stories. Occasionally the subject should moisten their lips. Use fill-light or well position poses to avoid deep shadows in the "laugh lines" on the cheeks during a smile.

Chin height: A high chin leads to a noise-up photo and an elognated neck. Chin down is unnatural and tends to make the subject look fearful or glaring at the camera, and produces a double chin.

Head positions: Four basic shots: least desired head-on mug shot, 7/8 view with far ear just starting to fade from view, 3/4 view where far ear is just hidden completely, and profile where even far eyelash is hidden. In the 7/8 & 3/4 shots, keep the small closest to the camera.

Head tilt: The implied line between the eyes should not be exactly parallel to the bottom edge of the photo frame. Tilt should be subtle and natural. Only practice will teach the best tilt of the head.

Shoulders: Shoulders always turned at an angle to camera, unless subject is thin and it flatters their likeness, or for an athlete when their mass is intentionally exaggerated. Generally, women should tilt head toward the shoulder nearest camera. Men should tilt head toward far shoulder.

Upper Arms: Arms should not hang at sides. In bust shots, upper arms should slope into the shoulders, by separating the arms from the torso, keeping space between upper arms and chest (forming a slight triangular base).

Hands and lower arms: Hands should not point into camera except to emphasize their great mass in strong subjects. Shoot the top or outer edge of the hands whenever possible, and try to encourage the subject to bend up at the wrist. Ask the subject keep the fingers slightly separated. Women should keep arms and hands in a graceful pose, such as one hand on hip and the other hanging loose at the side turned so the outer edge is toward the camera. Men should emphasize strength, for example folding their arms, turning them so the outer edge is toward the camera, and perhaps lightly grasping his biceps.

3/4 length and full length poses: Don’t shoot the subject head on. Keep the camera aimed at a 30-45 degree angle to the front of the subject, shooting just between their side and front. Always break the bottom edge of the photo at the mid point between joints: the chest, the thighs and the calves. In full length poses the feet should point at an angle, not directly at the camera. The subject should stand with most of their weight on the back leg, and bend the front knee.

Sitting poses: Try to have the subject sit crossed-leg with the top leg at angle to the camera. Women should tuck the calf of the top/front leg somewhat behind the back leg. Men should sit in a masculine way, but not with legs spread too far apart, and perhaps with elbows resting on thighs or knees.

Most of all, make sure whatever combo of postures are used, they look undistorted, as if the subject would easily fall into the pose naturally.

Composition
Generally, avoid shooting the main subject dead center. Frame the subject as tight as is possible unless the background is part of the story. Remove distracting elements from the background by moving them, or moving to a point where the composition is clean.

Rule of thirds: Divide the frame with two lines horizontally and vertically, giving rise to nine equal segments with one dead center. In this grid there are four intersecting points around the center rectangle. Place the subject at any of the intersections for a good, dynamic composition. Further, the extra space should always lead in front of the subject on the side s/he is facing. In other words, place the largest space in front of the subject.

Golden Mean: Draw a diagonal line from one corner of the frame to the opposing corner. Then draw a line from each of the other two corners so these meet the diagonal at right angles. There should be two three-way intersections, which form the best placement of the main subject. The diagonal is used whenever there is something in the frame that loosely (or tightly) follows it along the angle splitting the frame, and the subject is met along that line at the intersections given by the golden mean.

‘S’ form and ‘L’ form: The S shaped composition is considered the most pleasing, but is rare because few scenes have S shaped forms. The main subject should fall inside the center of one of the circles form by the two halves of the S. The L shape is used primarily for seated subjects.

Implied and real lines: Real lines, such as the horizon or roads, should never dissect the frame in half, down the center or middle of the composition. They should follow one of the lines of the Rule of Thirds or other compositional shapes given above. If possible, use retreating lines to guide the eye to the subject. Implied lines, such as contours of the subject, should be used to guide the viewer to the main point of the subject that is strategically placed according to compositional rules.

Tones: The eye is drawn to the highest contrast parts in a scene. Light tones advance and dark tone retreat. Generally it is best to compose the subject as the lightest part of the frame. In high-key photos, the subject is the darkest against a bright background. Keeping a narrow DOF will also help remove distracting tones and shadows.

Natural Lighting

All basic studio lighting setups can be observed in nature.

Some say photography is painting with light, but it should be considered closer to sculpting with light. The primary goal is to use light to show shape first, then pattern and color. Shape is sculpted by light when the rays highlight roundness and edges using gradual highlights and shadows.
The easiest light to sculpt with is in shade, or from partially diffuse light that side-lights the subject, such as shade near a clearing where the light from the clearing lights the subject in the shade.
When side-lighting in the shade, using fill light can raise light levels and eliminate odd or strong shadowing.
Portable reflector discs mounted on collapsible frames work best and come in silver (brightest), white (diffuse) and gold (warming). A cheap reflector can be made from a roll of butcher’s paper. Reflectors should be placed wherever they best help sculpt the subject’s shape and keep the light levels adequate. Note that reflected light from below the subject (on the ground) is unflattering and creates ghostly lighting.
Flash can be used as fill light. Often it is best to place the flash off camera. It is harder to determine which is the best position to sculpt the subject as flash is not continuous like reflectors, but keep it at the same height or slightly higher than the camera. Since the flash fills in, it must be adjusted for low output, as not to overpower the ambient light. If the flash does not do TTL fill in, it is best to set the flash to Aperture mode and adjust its output to 1-2 stops lower than the aperture used on the camera, depending on the level of ambient light. For example, with on camera aperture of f/8, set the flash to a level for f/5.6
Overhead shade (such as overcast conditions or very high overhang) is unflattering and not optimal.
If the ambient light is so diffuse that it has no direction, you can use a black "reflector" that absorbs light from one side to create the desired effect of diffuse side lighting. Flash can also be used as the key light if it is placed off camera to side-light the subject and is set to expose at the full level.
Harsh directed sunlight can cause hard highlights and shadows that do not flatter or convey shape as well as directed diffuse light. It also causes subjects to squint.
Overhead sunlight is the worst, and causes racoon eyes and unpleasing shadows.
If you must shoot in direct overhead lighting conditions, you can block it with a portable shade (usually held out of frame by an assistant) or a diffusion screen. A diffusion screen can be made by using a clear frosted shower curtain stretched tightly onto a frame, usually about 20" x 26" or larger. The diffusion screen can act like soft box when filtering harsh direct sunlight and placed in the sun’s direct line of sight of the subject.
Direct sunlight is best shot as backlighting or cross-lighting rather than head-on.
Backlighting a subject highlights the hair and outlines the form of the body. Metering is more difficult. Spot metering the face (either in spot metering mode, or by taking a meter very close to the face before composing) should set the exposure properly. Fill in flash or light is also appropriate, depending on how much highlight is desired. Beware of lens flare when shooting toward the bright sky or sun, it is more apparent at smaller apertures. For exposing a dark silhouette against a brightly colored sky, meter the sky near but not on the sun.
Crosslighting is best when the sun is low in the sky at sunset or sunrise. Position the subject so that about half of the face is in shadow, the other half highlighted. Use a fill flash set at 1-2 stops lower than the exposure for the sun lit side to lessen shadows, but keep the mood.
Outdoor lighting needs correct color balance. Cloudy, overcast light has a blue cast and adds a distracting mood. Correcting for overcast by shooting at 7500K will create a sunny mood. Sunsets or rises add warmth and rarely should be corrected—leave the balance at 5500 or 6500, depending on desired warmth.

Basic Studio Lighting

(Note, a good place to start is at photographytips.com's lighting article And their home studio tips page.)

LIGHTS

Key light: The main light, and always there is just one, which establishes the pattern of shadows and highlights that will give depth and shape to the subject. Must be brighter than fill lights. Usually studios use high powered bulbs (300-500W at minimum) in parabolic reflectors (silver coated), or high-powered soft boxes and umbrellas. The undiffused key light should use barn doors (adjustable flaps that are used to control the width of the beam).

Fill lights: Any light other than the key light is considered a fill light. Output is usually controlled with diffusers (frosted plastic), and always lowers fill light to levels less than key light. Barn doors can also be used. Avoid directing light into unwanted parts of the studio, such as the background. Fill lights include: hair light, background light, kickers, and passive reflectors.

Hair light: The hair light illuminates the hair, usually from the side opposing the key light and often pointing into the camera. The hair light should be small and use barn doors to block the sides which create flare when pointed toward the camera. Must be placed outside of the camera view.

Background light: A low powered light can be used to illuminate the background (if desired). The key light often directs shadows onto the background and a background light will eliminate these. Like all lights must be placed out of camera view.

Kickers: In order to highlight the sides of the subjects, small low powered kickers may be strategically placed to the side or behind the subject. These also may need barn doors to avoid lens flare.

LIGHTING SETUPS

There are two basic lighting categories: BROAD and SHORT lighting. Broad lighting is when the key (main) light illuminates the side of the subject’s face that is turned toward the camera. Short lighting is when the key light illuminates only the side of the subject’s face that is turned away from the camera. Below I give some examples of specific variant on broad and short lighting.

Five basic studio lighting setups: Paramount lighting, Loop lighting, Profile or Rim lighting, Rembrandt lighting, and Split lighting. Paramount is a form of broad lighting. The others are variants on short lighting. All but Profile have in common the fill and key lights sharing positions on the side of the camera, that is, on side of the face turned away from the camera. Loop, Rembrandt, and Split lighting have the most in common and are slight variants from each other. (See figures and descriptions below, and note that subject faces same direction as the arrow points.)

(For examples of photos and the effect of these lighting setups, visit these sites: site1 site2 .)

Paramount: Sometimes called butterfly or glamour lighting, paramount lighting is a soft, feminine pattern that produces a balanced oval shadow low on the subject’s face, emphasizing smooth skin and high cheek bones. The key light should be at or slightly above the eye level. In other words, position the key light toward the subject's face and adjust the height to create a shadow directly under, and in line with, the nose. (Example photos linked here and here.)

Loop: A variant on Paramount lighting, Loop lighting causes the shadowing to form a subtle loop on the cheek closest to the key light. The key light is placed at about the nose level, lower than with paramount. (Example photo linked here.)

Rembrandt: Also called 45-degree lighting, Rembrandt creates a small triangular highlight on the cheek furthest from the key light. The lighting is dramatic and offers a masculine mood. The key light should be low, and the fill lights should have low output.(Example photos linked here and here.)

Split: The key light illuminates only half of the face in Split lighting.
It is optimal for narrowing a wide face or nose. Also useful to hide facial irregularities. Key light is low (nose level) and placed further from subject. (Example photo linked here.)

Profile/Rim: Used when shooting a profile of the subject, and can heighten elegant facial features. Key light is placed behind the subject. Fill light is placed on the same side as camera. In profile shot, camera is placed on side of subject who is looking at fill reflector/light. In Rim shot, the camera is placed by the fill to capture the subject face on. (Example photo linked here.)

Candids

Work unobserved. Use long lenses.

Pre-focus, lock it in, and then drop the camera to your side or waist. Shoot from the hip. For this, angled viewfinders, tilting LCDs or TLR systems work well.
Frame loosely so that you capture the scene, then crop the photo afterward.
The moment you say, "look this way," you’ve ruined the naturalness of the moment.
Instead of trying to direct your subject into a pose, put the subject in surroundings or set up the situation that naturally guides the person into the desired expressions.
After catching the person in action, shoot some of him/her relaxing.
If shooting composed portraits, especially of groups, use the continuous drive to shoot a couple of shots in succession. Often the keeper, a candid, is made right after the posed shot.
Pay attention to backlighting. Shoot in auto mode with center-weight or spot metering.
Since you usually don’t shoot candids with flash most are shot in low light situations. Use high ISO film/sensitivity, or push the exposure by shooting on shutter priority.
Low light shots need a steady hand. If the use of a monopod is not allowed, or if there is no wall, chair or other support for you or the camera, you must use good handling.
Steady camera handling: keep elbows in, hold the camera with two hands, position the right thumb on the camera baseplate (bottom of camera). Squeeze the shutter rather than pressing it. It takes practice to do it, but can help achieve sharp shots even at 1/15 shutter speeds.
If possible, buy a stabilized lens (IS in canon-speak and VR in nikon-speak).
Shoot plenty of frames.