Portraiture

Photographing people offers challenges that can be different to taking a photograph of a landscape, still life or something else.

  • People Move.   The subject can move. If they move fast, a fast shutter speed may be needed to keep the subject in focus (so the photo is not blurred). Because people move, sometimes the photographer needs to work fast before they move away from the camera.
  • People Dress Differently.    The same person can look different according to the clothing or make up they wear. Similarly, dress and make up can be used to make different people appear alike.
  • The subject can be changed.   When you photograph a statue, you can change the time you take the photo, the equipment you use, or the placement of the camera; in fact anything external to the subject can be changed, but the subject (ie. the statue) is always the same. Unlike inert objects (or most landscapes in the short time frame), living subjects (animals and people) can change considerably from moment to moment.
  • Peoples Moods can be Uncontrollable.   To capture the best portrait of a person you need to have them in an appropriate mood. A person can, for instance, appear happy one day and sad the next. An individual may co-operate with one photographer and not with another. Such considerations can, and probably will, impact upon the final image which the photographer captures.

 

Learn More with our Distance Education Course

PHOTOGRAPHING PEOPLE  (BPH102)  is a course is designed for persons who already have some experience with photography; to help them develop their ability to take better photographs of people.  It involves around 100 hours of learning (study at your own pace, on average taking 4-6 months part time)

The course aim is to take better photographs of people, and it probides a foundation for taking formal portraits through to informal group or crowd scenes. 
 
COURSE STRUCTURE
There are ten lessons as follows:
1.Introduction to Photography and Human Subjects
2.Equipment and Materials for Photographing People
3.Basic Techniques
4. Portraiture
5.Wedding Photography
6.Candid Photography
7.Nude Photography
8.Sports, Street & Action Photography
9.Fashion Photography
10. Folio Project
 
WHAT YOU DO IN THIS COURSE
Amongst other things, you may do all of the following:
 
-Consider your needs for accuracy, speed, graininess, sharpness & colour
richness etc. in film for taking different types of people photos.
 
-What type of film would you suggest most appropriate for each of the
following situations:
a/ A wedding reception, indoors, in a restaurant.
b/ Family shots at a family picnic, (with aunts, uncles, grandparents,
parents & children etc) in a national park.
c/ Photographs of your spouse (or boyfriend or girlfriend) taken
at the beach, mid morning in summer.
d/ Portraits of a pretty girl standing in front of a city building at
dusk.
 
-How does the positioning and lighting of the eyes affect a portrait?
 
-Choose two different people who you know, and who are of very different ages and personalities, and describe each.
 
-Explain how you would plan to take a portrait photo of each of these people, with the
aim of creating a unique image that reflects their personality.
 
-Explain the equipment, film, location, lighting and technique you would use for each, and how these things would all come together to create the image you plan for.
 
Click here to enrol
 

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