If you’re a beginner photographer, you can improve your portrait photography with a few key tips. Many people who start taking photos wonder how they can get the crisp, high-quality images they see online and in magazines. When it comes to portraits, a few tricks and some extra effort go a long way!
10 Portrait Photography Tips
We provide these 10 portrait photography tips to improve the photos you take of the people around you. We’ll also briefly go over the how and why of each professional tip. Beginners can apply these portrait photography practices to start producing higher-quality results in no time.
1. Use Natural Indirect Light
Natural lighting adds drama and character to any shot. It’s also easy to work with.
The first step is simply selecting the right spot. Find a room with natural light coming through a window or an open space that receives indirect natural light.
Be aware, however, that direct natural light can create harsh shadows and overexpose some parts of your subject. Direct sunlight can also bother the subject and create a less comfortable shoot.
Ideally, use a room with a large window that is not directly hit by the sun. Try out different spots and different angles. You’re looking for that perfect spot where the light falls on your subject’s face in a way that centers the focus around them. Get a natural indirect glow and avoid harsh contrasts.
You can also opt to take a portrait outside in a space that’s under some shade. The same guidelines still generally apply.
Indirect natural light can be a lot easier to manage than direct natural light or harsh indoor light. Indoor light may be workable, but natural light offers a more flattering appearance. Natural indirect light has a warmth that any photographer can make the most of.
By using natural light, you also avoid the difficult tasks that come with setting up indoor lighting. You may still want to use reflectors indoors, though. Whenever you have access to the right landscape, you get more for less.
2. Center the Shot at Eye Level
You can always play it safe by centering the portrait on the subject’s eyes. Centering a portrait at eye level is an important step for beginners. It’s an easy way to create a naturally relatable image.
First, set up your camera so the lens is at the same height as your subject’s eyes. An “eye-level shot” creates a connection between the portrait’s subject and the people observing it. It mimics the perspective with which we comfortably communicate with others.
Second, make sure the eyes are in focus. Your subject’s eyes will be the most expressive part of the portrait, and the foreground and background should complement them. If their eyes are properly in focus, your attention will immediately go toward them.
Lastly, try different poses and positions. You’ll need to match your subject, standing if they stand, and crouching at their eye level if they’re sitting. In the end, their eyes should be on or very close to the horizontal and vertical lines. If they aren’t fully centered, make sure the balance of the frame keeps the focus clearly on the subject’s eyes.
There are two main reasons for centering portraits at eye level:
- It’s a beginner-friendly and reliable technique
- It takes less effort and consideration to create intimacy and personality
Most viewers are more attracted to and comfortable with eye-level portraits.
3. Try Natural Settings
While keeping natural light and other details in mind, try looking for the right natural settings. You don’t necessarily need to strictly work “in nature.” But using natural environments, as opposed to staged settings, can help you
- find inspiration,
- locate ideal places for shoots,
- spark visual interest, and
- make a stronger statement about the subject’s life or personality
Finding natural settings doesn’t need to be complicated. Just remember to consider new places you encounter with your subject. Try to let go of any rigid conceptualizations you may have about the new areas and your subject.
The best locations will often be those your subject frequents in their day-to-day life. Try to incorporate the activities they find meaningful or enjoy. Join your subject on a regular journey through their world so you both can appreciate their daily life.
The best times to get started are after you’ve built rapport (more on that soon) and when your subject isn’t concerned with how they appear on camera. Getting to that moment is easier when the process is approached naturally and calmly.
Capturing a natural moment in a natural setting lowers the tension of capturing a portrait shot. A big part of getting the right shot is simply being in the right place at the right time. In a natural setting, you can capture momentary emotions and expressions, making them relatable.
Natural settings can go a long way toward fixing problems that stem from too much tension. Try for less formality and more reality when the subject is having trouble relaxing for the camera.
4. When Deviating From the Center, Remember the Rule of Thirds
If you want to try something a bit more complex, apply the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds calls for you to divide your portrait into nine boxes. The intersections nearest the center are where the focus will be. The rest of the portrait can then be designed along those lines.
Mentally divide the frame into a 3 × 3 grid. Your subject’s face should be centered around one of the four middle intersections. For normal portrait shots, one of the upper horizontal intersections is the preferred area. Their eyes should be visible right on the horizontal line.
If the subject is looking at the camera, follow the above rules. However, if they’re gazing away from the camera, leave some extra “cool” (uncluttered/partially empty) space in the direction they’re facing. The extra cool space will lead to a more balanced outcome.
The rule of thirds is one of the easiest ways to add dynamism to a portrait. It takes a bit of extra thought, but is still a beginner-friendly method for taking high-quality shots.
Compared to centered approaches, the rule of thirds leads to more interesting outcomes. It creates the need for balance, meaning you need to create negative space. The final shot will be more complex, professional, and expressive. When the subject’s gaze is thoughtfully applied, it adds more emotion for viewers to engage with.
If you want to start steering your portrait photography in more interesting directions, this is one of the simplest ways to do so in a structured manner.
5. Build Rapport Before the Photo Shoot
Building rapport with a subject isn’t easy for every photographer. But it’s still a crucial step.
You don’t need to share your life story or be a stand-up comedian. However, it’s a lot easier to produce better results when the subject is relaxed, comfortable, and at ease. Comfort, ease, and relaxation are part environment, part basic rapport.
Before getting started, spend a bit of time talking with the subject. Apart from basic chitchat about the day, talk about why they’re there and what they hope to accomplish. The point is simply to get them comfortable with working with you.
After beginning the session with some brief conversation about their interests and goals, focus on creating a better portrait. Continue to engage with them in a light and gentle way. Provide positive reinforcement when they’re doing well. Encourage them to share their thoughts about how it’s going so you can stay on the same emotional page.
Poor rapport can lead to tension, nervousness, and a lack of relaxation, which will spill over into the portraits you try to capture. Creating a portrait is a two-person activity. The warmer the connection and the stronger the collaboration between the two of you, the better the effect on the outcome.
6. Inspire and Capture Candid Moments
A big part of why you want to build rapport is to get your subject in the right mood. Rapport is the foundation of creating and capturing the perfect artistic moments. So follow step 5 before getting too deeply into the shoot, because capturing candid moments is a core part of the art of photography. They provide a glimpse into a human moment and will make a larger impact on the viewer.
Forget about capturing a “perfect frame” or some kind of forced image. Focus on capturing genuine human moments and connections.
To make candid moments more likely, create a relaxed environment. Ideally, the subject should not be focused on your camera and the props you’ve set up. As you’re talking to them, try guiding the conversation in a light way, directing it to topics that excite them.
When your subject is moving, laughing, or having a “moment,” take the shot. As long as the moment wasn’t forced, the outcome will be ideal. The more such moments you can create, the more likely you are to get a great portrait.
When you’re trying to capture a specific moment, use fast shutter speeds. You need to maintain the image’s sharpness even if the subject is moving quickly and spontaneously. Bursts capture the moments surrounding the smile, the laugh, or the thoughtful gaze.
Candid moments add personality and interest to a portrait. The right moment can make a portrait great as they essentially add the “soul” that people are looking for in portraits.
7. Avoid Accidentally Centering on a Cluttered Background Area
One mistake new photographers often make is accidentally centering the focus in the wrong spot. Often, this happens when an area of the foreground or background is too cluttered.
When we were talking about the rule of thirds, we mentioned “negative space.” Whether your subject is centered or slightly off-center, balance is needed. That balance is normally achieved with the tactful use of negative space.
If certain areas around your subject are too cluttered, you risk throwing off the focus. Negative space should emphasize the subject through the emptiness surrounding them. If there are decorations in the foreground or background, space them out. Make sure the distribution of potential distractions is sparse enough to maintain focus on the subject.
Before you start shooting, inspect the foreground and the background. Look for:
- Colorful objects
- People
- Bright areas
- Attention-drawing objects
In an uncontrolled public area, this may be difficult. But it’s still necessary for producing a great outcome. In some cases, you can take other steps, such as blurring out people in the background. If they are distant enough, this keeps the focus squarely on your subject. You can do this with a f-stop number, creating a larger aperture. Larger apertures should make more distant objects less noticeable. If you’re shooting with a zoom lens, try stepping back and zooming in to compress what you capture.
Wherever possible, remove or rearrange those distracting elements from your shot. In controlled spaces, you can try arranging any decorations you placed to make them less distracting.
Uncluttered backgrounds and foregrounds add character to your portrait photography. If there’s too much clutter, the result will be distracting. A high-quality portrait has a clear intention that requires a clear purpose. An uncluttered focus on the subject of a portrait is a basic professional expectation. It enables viewers to connect with them more deeply.
8. Use the Right Focal Length
The focal length you choose will have a significant impact on the final result. Focal lengths determine the level of image distortion in your portrait. Unfortunately, there’s no “one size fits all” solution.
In general, portrait focal lengths range from 50 mm to 85 mm. Keep in mind that, if you’re using a fixed lens, the focal length will be fixed. In that case, make sure you get accustomed to using it in a way that consistently captures the best of any possible shot.
Despite our own eyes’ focal lengths being around 20 mm, a 50-mm lens on a camera captures images similarly to how the standard human eye does. Using wide-angle lenses of below 35 mm will normally distort close-up shots. They tend to distort facial features and some aspects of the environment.
On the other end, telephoto lenses of over 85 mm isolate the subject from their surroundings. Normally, telephoto lenses blur most of the background and home in on the subject. However, their shallow depth of field is normally extreme for portraits.
Practice with focal lengths between 50 mm and 85 mm. As you learn how they change the look of your portraits, you’ll become more skilled at capturing balanced images.
As a beginner, using an inappropriate focal length is an easy mistake to make. But with some practice, you can ensure every portrait you take is crisper than the last.
Focal lengths play a significant role in how our eyes perceive things on their own. Through a portrait, we can see clearly whether or not the photographer was paying attention to the necessary details.
9. AI-Generated Headshots
Many photo-editing tasks are changing as the new AI applications are coming onstream. In many cases, a simple AI tool can help you create new work and gain new inspiration. All it takes is a few minutes to get started.
AI tools are changing most industries in at least a few ways. The initial shock of AI is largely over. But in the field of photography and image editing, photographers have new, highly specific tools at their disposal.
Using AI headshot generators for portrait photography is easy. You just need to upload an existing photo, selfie, or other image that captures someone’s facial features. Then you adjust the settings on the app to place the subject in a new context. Among other things, AI headshot generators can
- put the subject in a new outfit,
- create a new custom background,
- alter background and foreground details,
- automatically apply filters, and
- change the expression of the face.
With any mix of the above, you get an immediate result to work with. Headshot generators can produce new portraits for artistic or more professional purposes. How you use them is up to you.
Most headshot generators use the same simple process:
- Visit an AI headshot generator website
- Click on the option to generate a photo shoot
- Provide a selfie, photo, or other image of a person
- Select from a list of settings
- Choose how many images you want to generate, and then pay
- Wait a couple of hours and receive your new collection
Once you have your headshots, you can usually do even more. AI can retouch the images by removing blemishes, recreating facial symmetry, adjusting the lighting, and more. Or you can take the generated portrait and use another photo-editing tool if you prefer.
Try generating AI headshots with Portrait Pal.
The process of generating human-like images with AI has become more refined. AI has gone through many recent technological changes that have allowed it to produce far higher quality images.
At first, most AI image generation was buggy, though it was still impressive. A lot of AI image-generation models still have the same problem if the user can’t prompt the AI properly. But AI image generators are highly specific tools designed around the intricacies of human photos, portraits, and, of course, headshots.
Using an AI image generator doesn’t necessarily mean a complete transformation of your photos. But it can help you make the alterations you desire and leave you with many new images to work with. AI headshot generators ensure consistency and low cost, offering you a strong alternative when you have less time and money.
10. RAW Post-Processing
When it comes to post-processing, always go with RAW. If you want to start producing corporate-quality portraits, you need more detail to work with, and RAW formats capture your scene in the greatest detail.
You can apply photo-processing and editing software. Common tools like Adobe Lightroom or Capture One are beginner-friendly when it comes to features like RAW processing.
First, focus on exposure and contrast. Make sure the subject’s key traits like facial features, eyes, and skin tone are balanced.
Second, fine-tune the portrait’s white balance so the lighting looks as natural as possible.
Lastly, make adjustments that add to the realism and quality of the portrait. These might include smoothing the subject’s skin and enhancing their eyes.
Most of the fine details of post-processing can be done with various editing tools. However, changes like the ones listed above are harder to get right with JPEGs.
When you use RAW processing tools, you’ll have much more flexibility with key features like:
- Exposure adjustments
- Contrast
- Color
- White balance
- Shadow detail
RAW post-processing allows you to do all this with minimal quality sacrifice. It’s one of the best and most accessible tools for making large changes with very little quality degradation. You can do any post-processing task without unintended consequences.
One example of why beginners should get familiar with RAW post-processing is shadow details. You can recover the details of underexposed shadows without losing clarity or creating more noise.
Overall, RAW post-processing gives you more quality control with minimal risk of ruining your portrait.
How To Take Better Portraits
Taking better portrait photographs is about the small efforts you apply to
- the setting,
- the attitude,
- the focus, and
- the tools to process your photos.
Applying the tips we discussed in this article should help you start improving the professionalism of your portraits. Try applying them now and see what a difference they can make.
If you’re looking for inspiration, check out these great portrait photography examples.