Street portraits - Technique
Ok, so we figured out the approach thing. If we get the approval, we need to focus on subjects expression and how we want to portrait the subject.
In order to do that we must leave all the technical details behind us. We can’t worry about depth of field (aperture setting), shooting mode, white balance or stuff like that. Of course there are times when you need to adjust on the spot but I suggest to prepare everything, test exposure before approaching the subject. After that if some changes are need and subject is calm enough to wait, you can adjust.
Important tip: What I do first when I walk out, since I know I am going to shoot faces mostly in shade I set my camera to A, check if exposure is OK and then continue the walk. If light changes, I just check if I have enough shutter speed to get clear shoot and adjust the ISO to get what I want from shutter speed.
For me, the main thing for a succesful portrait besides obviously expression and interesting face is creating a good separation of subject from the background. One way, the easiest one is using shallow depth of field (aperture opening from 1.4 to 2.8 or more on telezooms) to separate face and leave blurry background.
If we don’t have large aperture openings we can use textured walls or clear walls and place subjects against them if they are willing to cooperate. That will give us clear separation.
Important tip: It’s not a big deal but sometimes it can ruin a shoot. Be careful when selecting background when you compose. Look for any lines, pools, trees behind subjects head and avoid intersection with their head.
In the next post I’ll tackle the light issue … most important thing in photography. From the amateur viewpoint of course.
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