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A friend has asked me to take some photos of her for her promo/modeling portfolio. I thought why not, Ill give it a go.

I will borrow Joe's SB600, can anyone offer any other tips? I have never shot people really before.

Below are some shots she sent me of other people, that's the sort of style she wants.

Hey Roo,
good to see you trying new areas!! portrait is fun. and to be honest the photos she sent you aren't really that great

Okay, just a few quick tips:
- first you need to pay attention to the model, find out how/what makes her looks the best and what makes her look the worst (e.g. if she's not tall, don't shot from a high angle!!)
- pay attention to the direction and quality of light, definitely avoid harsh sunlight on face.
- pick a clean background,
- tell her she doesn't have stare at the camera all the time, it's just a camera, not a gun.
- definitely shoot in RAW, so you can fix the white balance..etc in postprocessing easily.


In my opinion, portrait photoshoot is one of the hardest thing to do. There are so many things you have to get right to create a great portrait photo. And it's not just about your camera skills. Since your model is just wanting to get into modeling, she would not have much experience in front of the camera, she probably doesn't know how to pose and she'll feel very tense in front of the camera as well, so your communication skills, how to pose her and how to make her feel relax are just as important and difficult then the camera skills.

If you want to get better, go grab at least a few portrait photography books and study all the basics first... you can start with some of these:

- Rolando Gomez's Glamour Photography: Professional Techniques and Images Rolando Gomez's Glamour Photography
- Rolando Gomez's Posing Techniques for Glamour Photography
- The Best of Portrait Photography: Techniques and Images from the Pros

if you want to use flash and use it more creatively, also grab:
- The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes (Joe McNally)
- The Moment It Clicks (Joe McNally)

and then study other people's portraits carefully to find out what makes their photo look good (or bad)


Oh one more thing, when you take landscape photo or car photos, the car or the tree won't hate you if you make them look ugly.. but when you are taking portrait of your female friend, you know what i mean

Thanks Richard, that is a huge help. You know everything about everything.

She has done a bit of work in front of the camera and is really confident so that should help.

Might have to ask about PP techniques afterwards too, my computer is going to have hernia dealing with RAW haha.

You can borrow SB600 sorry. I wanna make it hard

oh it's great she has done a bit of work in front of camera already. it'll make your life a lot easier!

Remember to review your picture instantly after you take a shoot to check the exposure/composition....etc are all good. And also zoom-in 100% and make sure the eyes are sharp! Nothing is worse than having a great shot, with great composition,great lighting, great smile but then when you back to home, and review the picture on your screen and then realise the eyes are blurred!!!!!! yes i'm speaking from my painful experience
and while it's possible to use wide angle to take nice portraits, it's not easy to get it right.. so also try use the longer lens you have.. at least 50mm on your DX camera

ha ha i wish i know everything!

I am no pro but this is what I have experienced.

-Tendency to get over excited / rushed. This is common as you think you are making your model wait and you naturally hurry up. I don't mean get excited in a non-professional way. Rushing = making mistakes.

-Review your shots as they are taken, at 100%. As Yellow says, nothing worse than going home and the shorts are out of focus or the DOF is too thin.

-What the photographer views as "best" is not always what the "client" views as best. We might think she looks better from a certain angle, but she might not like it. Women tend to be self conscious of certain things about their body.

-Having an assistant helps, if you can find one, it will make life easier. I think there is a fella called "Joe". He works for almost $0. Give him a call or PM. haha

-Personally I don't like glamour shots with the skin all overly soft, it also depends on the models skin complexion. I tend to shoot a little higher in F to get DOF.

The shots posted I felt were plain. If that is what she is wanting, I don't think it is too hard to deliver. *Just my opinion*.

MOst of all, make sure you both have fun?

(04-26-2010 09:45 PM)CTM Wrote: [ -> ]-Having an assistant helps, if you can find one, it will make life easier. I think there is a fella called "Joe". He works for almost $0. Give him a call or PM. haha

Oh, I see what you did there..

Okay I never got round to doing this but she is still keen. Below are some shots of her that have been done since by a 'professional'

from the first 2 shots, her pose looks pretty awful.

whats stopping you to do it?

hm yes i agree with EGD, the camera angle and her pose in some of the shots look really..... let's just say unprofessional and doesn't bring out the beauty of your friend.
She has a pretty face, beautiful hair and body. I also find some very attractive characteristic from her eyes.
Maybe you should try take some photos for her.