 |
| Mary Denman Photography |
Welcome to portrait versus horizontal, part 2.
Last week, we talked about portrait and horizontal shots with fall trees as the subject.
This week, we'll take a look at portrait and horizontal in the context of people.
Let's get started.
This is a picture of my youngest daughter taken in portrait. Notice how uniform the green space around her is.
She's the main focus of the picture.
The grasses in the foreground are not clear. They provide interest and soften the picture.
She's the main focus of the picture.
The grasses in the foreground are not clear. They provide interest and soften the picture.
 |
| PHOTO 2: Landscape by Mary Denman |
PHOTO 2
Between the two orientations, I much prefer Photo 1 in portrait.
PHOTO 3
PHOTO 4
TIP 1: When choosing whether to use portrait or landscape for people photography, consider how the background will look in each orientation. You don't want lots of blank space around your subject, or a cluttered background.
PHOTO 5
I also took a picture of her in landscape orientation.
In this case, the amount of green seems to take away from her.
In this case, the amount of green seems to take away from her.
Between the two orientations, I much prefer Photo 1 in portrait.
Why? The green in the first shot creates a beautiful backdrop that makes my daughter stand out. In the horizontal or landscape shot, the green is beautiful, but it overwhelms my subject.
But lest you think that all people being photographed should be taken in portrait, let's look at pictures 3 & 4.
 |
| PHOTO 3: Portrait |
PHOTO 3
This picture is a full body shot of my eldest daughter and her husband, along with my younger daughter.
I took this in portrait to get all of them in the frame.
But you'll notice by doing that, their faces aren't the main part of the picture. Which is fine. My married daughter wanted a full length shot.
But you'll notice by doing that, their faces aren't the main part of the picture. Which is fine. My married daughter wanted a full length shot.
 |
| PHOTO 4: Landscape |
PHOTO 4
Then, I rotated the camera and took a horizontal shot of the three of them.
Can you see the difference between Photo 2 in horizontal and Photo 4?
With three people in the photo, horizontal made more sense for the close up of them. They fill the frame.
With three people in the photo, horizontal made more sense for the close up of them. They fill the frame.
TIP 1: When choosing whether to use portrait or landscape for people photography, consider how the background will look in each orientation. You don't want lots of blank space around your subject, or a cluttered background.
It only takes a second to do both orientations if you aren't sure. Then, you can look at them both and decide which works best.
TIP 2: Experiment!! I can't stress this enough. Don't be afraid of getting it wrong. Practice now, today. Use a pet as a subject or find someone willing to be experimented on. Then, when the moment arrives to catch a quick shot, you'll be more prepared.
 |
| PHOTO 5: Landscape to emphasize the long lines |
I'm including this shot to help you understand long lines and how they affect orientation. I accentuated it by cropping it to be narrow and long. But again, this is to help you see how the subject can make the orientation a little more obvious.
This is a piano keyboard. In order to get the entire 88 keys in the picture, I had to take it in landscape or horizontal orientation.
TIP 3: Look for strong lines in your composition and orient the camera to make the most of those lines.
Assignment: Use your cell phone or regular camera to try taking pictures of people using both portrait and landscape orientations to see how they affect the outcome.
Assignment: Use your cell phone or regular camera to try taking pictures of people using both portrait and landscape orientations to see how they affect the outcome.
For Bloggers: Go back and look through several of your most recent blog posts. Which ones garnered the most activity, comments or had the most impact? Which ones seemed to not be as powerful? Just as I prefer the shot of my daughter in portrait best, because she stands out, your most impactful posts probably have a clear focus. As you analyze your posts, do you have the main thing you want to get across in focus? Does the point of the post stand out and is it clear? Or do you have a good point that's overwhelmed by too many details? Learn to frame your posts like you frame a photo.
For Cell Phone Users: You actually have a little more freedom in taking pictures than DSLR users. While anyone can do post photography editing to crop photos, often your phone camera program will give you options of taking square pictures, for example. They offer this so you can upload to online streams like Instagram, Twitter, etc. Practice now with the different settings for picture sizes and see what they look like.
Hope these tips help!
Keep on clicking!
Mary
vote vote for Hillary Clinton
ReplyDeleteFOR 112 reasons to vote for Hillary Clinton
http://massabook.blogspot.com.eg/2016/05/vote-for-hillary-clinton.html
vote ; please share the link with your friends
Join us in the campaign send 100 million ( 100 000 000 ) messages
To elect Hillary Clinton