10 tips for taking portraits with natural light

It is said that the eyes are like the windows to the soul. That's one of the reasons why portrait photography can be so compelling. The most beautiful portraits in the world convey much more than a simple glance - instead, they evoke emotional reactions and allow us to identify the person we are looking at.

However, taking portrait of someone can also be a daunting task, especially when you're not really sure what you're doing. It is important that people always want to look their best. So how can you improve your skills and capture images of people they will please? This article will share 10 tips for taking great portraits with natural light that you need to keep in mind.

Tips for taking portraits

In order to take a successful portrait, the photo must show the character's scene in it. However, to do this, it will depend on the photographer's technical factors. Portrait photography is the most common type of photograph taken today.

To do that, the photographer needs to adhere to the following principles:

- Understanding the subject: A portrait photo needs to create the natural features and comfort of the character. And to do this, photographers have to make their subjects as comfortable as possible, because this will help the subject have the best state or personality that we want to see.

- Make a story for the photo: photographers need to clearly express emotions in facial expressions as well as body language, this can simply mean that you will depend on the camera lens, photography location or lighting.

- Choosing the right background: this is an important point to be able to get a good portrait, a good background will help the photographer focus more on the subject's face to avoid distracting thoughts.

- Pose the right pose: posing for portrait photography is also quite simple, but it is very important, because it needs a natural posture for the photographer to capture the best moment and pose of the subject. .

Tips to help you take the best portraits with natural light

To help photographers who do not have much experience in portrait photography, we would like to share a secret article for you to refer to and complete your portrait photography.

Understand the purpose of the photo

To take the best portrait photography, you need to clearly define the purpose of the photo that will be taken. This is a close-up photo for the actor to promote the movie, or a photo of fashion, or simply a portrait photo to make a souvenir to hang in the house, it can also be a photo. advertising portraits,...

Understanding the purpose will help you consider the composition and way of taking photos. When you understand well, you will know where you need to focus, clothes, makeup, style... Then you need to coordinate with which scene to match it.

Determine the location to take pictures

Next, you need to pay attention to the location to take the portrait photo, the location can be the studio or the outdoor, think about the locations to match the style of the photo.

If you take advertising photos, you can choose a location at the Studio, and if the photo is aimed at promotion, you can choose more romantic and spacious locations. In general, each subject needs to have shooting locations suitable for that subject, the messages of the topics need to have a suitable location to exude the meaning of that photo.

However, do not forget to pay attention to depth and light as it will create the right atmosphere for the photo. For example, if you are shooting in a large room, there will be afternoon light from the window, making you feel more comfortable and the space is open. As for small rooms, dark lighting is more suitable for fashion photos.

Lighting for the photo

One of the key features of good portrait photography is location and lighting. Because light is the deciding factor in the quality of the photo. Of course, if you are inexperienced, you should not take photos at noon because this is a very difficult time to capture the emotions of the character and it is also very difficult to work with too strong light.

The right time to take pictures is early or later than noon, maybe morning or afternoon when the light will be suitable and not too strong. In general, each subject will have its own scene and light to shoot in accordance with that subject.

Another important thing is that the photographer needs to have knowledge of lighting techniques to be able to create a good photo, with too much light will damage the photo, so you need to follow it. light afternoon. As for the light, it will make the scene more beautiful, but it will lose the small details.

When you take photos indoors, how to get as much light into the room as possible and determine the location and time to take the photo to create the most suitable concept.

Determine the position of the subject

The position of the subject will give the photographer freedom of light sources, find the subject in a favorable position and see where the sun is. Do not let the main character look directly into the sunlight, this will affect the eyes. For the best, you should let the subject rotate 360 ​​degrees slowly to observe the change of light to find the appropriate standing position.

Always use light properly

There are many techniques that help us to take full advantage of the characteristics of light, taking photos with natural light is very beneficial for portrait photography, because that way we can reflect less light on the person to be photographed and it will bring out the main features.

Shoot with natural light, the subject will not be dazzled, and if you take photos in the room, you should choose days with nice weather to take backlit photos. Dispersion is also great in case you want to soften the image and bring out the main character's face. For the dark it will create a contrast so you can take advantage of the light in the most subtle and natural way.

Take a picture with the window

When you take advantage of the light from the window it will give you a more beautiful portrait, with the light from the window creating a highlight that is great for the subject. If the light hits a part of the character's face, it will bring a more natural feeling of sadness.

Therefore, the basic rule to keep in mind is that the closer to the window, the stronger the contrast will be, you can also use curtains if the light is too strong.

Place the camera in the correct position

In order to bring the best and best quality portrait photos, choosing the right camera position is also very important, you should pay attention to the focus of the photo, especially the eyes and not to distract the attention.

Communicate with the subject of the photo

Feel comfortable during the photo session and communicate with the subject to be able to brainstorm ideas and create the most pleasing and natural portraits.

Use different luster

Never use the same natural light in all your photos, because the quality and color of the light will vary from hour to hour, day to day of the season. Sometimes there will be light and sometimes it will have blue light, balance them and remove light when not really needed.

Practice taking test shots now

For the best photo, you should take a few test photos first so that you can choose the concept and idea with the main character. The more you learn and practice, the richer your experience will be.

Follow the above methods and you'll be creating the best professional portraits in no time. Try to focus on the subject to create photos with the subject content to match.

A professional photographer is someone who can create beautiful photos in any situation. Wish you success with the sharing of Sadesign Retouching.

See more 19 tips to improve editing skills in Photoshop