Gloucestershire Portrait Photographer » Photography Tutorial

Rules of a Third – Portrait Photography

Dave — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:09:30 +0000

I’m hoping you have heard of the Rules of a Third, to help you compose Landscapes etc. Well don’t forget to try it on Portraits too.

On to portrait one as an example. Here you can see the eyes are on the top 1/3 horizontal, whilst the nose is on the right 1/3 vertical. This provides a very “pleasing” composition, whilst the tight crop provides some impact

Here we find a portrait where the face is more central, but you find the eyes both hit the intersections of the top horizontal 1/3 & both verticals. The mouth is on the lower horizontal 1/3

Now don’t feel you have to be spot on the 1/3. Instead try to use it as a general framework. In this portrait you can see the hand is pretty close to the bottom right intersection of 1/3′s, whilst the eyes are somewhere near the top 1/3 horizontal. In the end it produces a nicely balanced portrait

Hope this has been of some use & don’t forget, rules are there to be broken, so don’t get too hung up on it

Friday Freebie #3 – Sensual Couple Portraits

Dave — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:11:26 +0000

Every couple would love to have a sensual photograph of themselves. Here’s a very simple pose that is perfect for a couples portrait, or wedding shoot.

Ask the man to stand behind the lady, just to the side slightly. Now ask the lady to rest her head backwards, close her eyes & think romantic thoughts . Now the gentleman is asked to place a soft kiss on the open neck, again with his eyes closed. As long as the couple are truly in love, you should find you capture a very special moment

& then with a bit of work you can create a more dramatic shot like this

(Read more PhotographyTutorials here )

Friday Freebie #2 – Shallow DOF for Couples Portrait

Dave — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:01:30 +0000

Bored of the same Couple poses ? Then why not try using your Depth of Field for a more artistic shot.

Place one model back approx 4-6 feet from the the front model. Pose them accordingly. Now ensure camera is on F4 (or wider) & focus on front model. Take your shot. Some examples below :-

Notice in the 1st shot how I had to shoot from a higher position to ensure back model was high enough in shot. In addition with Studio lighting you can control how well lit each subject is, to add further variations.

(Read more Portrait Tutorials here )