Portrait can you tell

Making group portraits takes imagination, patience, and diplomacy. Use your imagination. Find a way to relate the group to an environment that expresses something about what kind of group they are. Do it literally, humorously, dramatically, or by complete contrast. Get ideas from them. Our family members are the people we photograph most frequently. We record the momentous occasions and the occasional moments. Albums full of baby pictures, first steps, Little League games, Halloweens, Thanksgivings, and weddings mark our passage through time.

These photographs are our memories made real and are probably the most important pictures we will ever make or have. You should apply thought and technique just as rigorously, if not more so, to photographing your family as you do to any photo assignment. There is no better group on which to practice photography. No others will be so trusting or willing to indulge your ever present camera, your fumbling around with lights, and your mistakes. When you are photographing strangers, you either get the picture or you don't.

There is no going back to a fleeting moment. With your family, you can work on getting a similar moment again, and again, and again. The hands of a farmer, a pianist, a baker. The feet of a ballet dancer, a long distance runner, a place kicker.

The belly of a pregnant woman, the bicep of a weight lifter. Hair caressing a pillow, fingers clutched in prayer, a peering eye. The details of the human body make great photographic subjects, either as expressions of ideas or emotions, as graphic shots, or as a way to say something about an individual. Whenever you are photographing someone, try to think of details of their body or dress that would get your message across in an indirect way. Are there particular parts of their body or items of what they wear that are important to what they do for a living or a hobby?

Does some part of them really stand out? Can you find a way to abstract what you want to say about the person by using one of these elements? The point is to use your eyes and your imagination, whether you want to use detail and abstraction to say something about an individual or about the beauty of the human body. If you are making photographs of details of the human body, you will be working intimately with people and will have to direct them, tell them where to pose, and how.

All rights reserved. Get Closer The most common mistake made by photographers is that they are not physically close enough to their subjects. Settings—The Other Subject The settings in which you make pictures of people are important because they add to the viewer's understanding of your subject.

Candids: Being Unobtrusive You may want to make photographs of people going about their business—vendors in a market, a crowd at a sports event, the line at a theater. Anticipating Behavior An important element in people photography is knowing your subjects well enough to be able to anticipate what they are going to do.

Predicting Relationships Within the Frame A great deal of people photography is understanding human nature and being aware of how people usually react in given situations.

Candids With Consent Unobtrusive candids seek to be fly-on-the-wall images that catch people going about their business seemingly unaware of the camera and the photographer.

Engaging Your Subject The first order of business is to engage your subject. Approaching Unfamiliar Cultures One of the keys to success in photographing cultures different from your own is doing as much research as you can before you go. The Casual Portrait Wherever you are with your camera, always be on the lookout for those moments when a person's character shines though.

Environmental Portraits Portraits are about people. Group Portraits Group portraits are hard to do well, and the larger the group, the harder they are.

Familiar Subjects Our family members are the people we photograph most frequently. Hands and Other Details The hands of a farmer, a pianist, a baker. Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London Love them or hate them, there's no denying their growing numbers have added an explosion of color to the city's streets.

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Possibly that it is joyous, humourous or sad. Ambarin Afsar discusses how this mood is the foundation of every photograph. Think about these portraits. They are a means to remembering. They are the essence of a person and a slice of time immortalised within a frame.

This is what makes portraits sacred and lasting. What is a Great Portrait? A great portrait is more than a likeness. The dreaded passport photo has taught us that capturing character is not easy. Good portraiture begins with knowing that it is not just about pointing the camera and releasing the shutter.

Forge a Connection Make an effort to be friendly with the person you are shooting. Develop a rapport as soon as you can and do not let them feel awkward.

When you are photographing strangers on the street, try to break the ice by smiling, saying hello and asking for permission. A powerful portrait can speak volumes to the viewer. Where Will You Find Inspiration? Study people, the human form, faces in cinema and magazine portraits. Look up the works of master portraitists and quiz yourself about the stories that they tell. Determine whether the portraits are flattering, personal or distanced.

Is it in someone's kitchen? Or on top of a mountain? Objects - What other objects are in the painting, besides the sitter? If they are sitting down, what kind of chair is it - a fancy ornate chair, soft velvet sofa, or a plain wooden chair? Are they holding anything?

Are there objects in the painting that grab your attention? As you can see, portrait paintings can tell us a lot about the person, people, or animal s that are depicted in the artwork. The way that the artist handles the medium will also tell us a lot about the intention behind the work. For instance, portrait painters can use any style they choose to create their artwork, each having a different effect on the overall tone of the piece. Below I've collected a few possibilities of how an artist can handle their paints and pencils when creating a portrait painting.

All of this artwork was done by me. If you want to paint a portrait, but you're not sure where to begin, consider all of these possibilities about how a portrait can look. Compare and contrast the portrait on the left with the one on the right, noting how the different techniques determine the portrait's overall appearance.

Or they can be a multitude of other styles. The point is, they don't all have to look realistic. The style an artist chooses will alter the effect the portrait has on the viewer. Fauvist , Dada , and Cubist portraits will all look very different and each will portray a different meaning. Strange or surprising color schemes can be used to great effect in portrait painting. It's an excellent way to convey emotion. For further examples, see Picasso's portraits painted during his Blue Period , or these self-portraits by Van Gogh.

Another effective way to convey emotion in portrait painting is through the brushstroke. Delicate, detailed portraits often carry a certain sensitivity and thoughtfulness. An artist using rough, choppy brushstrokes approaches portrait painting from a different, more expressive angle. View this portrait painting by Willem de Kooning for an example of an Abstract Expressionist portrait painting that utilizes these types of brushstrokes. Objects included in the painting provide visual clues about the person depicted.

While the face is often still the focal point, the inclusion of other objects can often add interesting elements to the artwork. Paintings that show just the person's face or body demand that the viewer's entire concentration focus on the person depicted. The portrait can seek to replicate reality by making the figure look sculptural, as if it really existed in 3-dimensional space.

Or the artist may play with the 2-dimensionality of the flat surface, and render a portrait that doesn't seek to emerge from the picture plane. Most people probably think of finished portrait paintings as being entirely covered with paint, all the way to the edges. But they don't have to be! Often, leaving large amounts of the artwork "blank" can create some very intriguing portrait compositions. It's a matter of suggesting what is there, rather than showing what is there.

Implying, rather than telling. Each of these choices will effect the way that the portrait is perceived by the viewer. These are just a few examples of choices that artists make when composing a portrait. There are many, many more!

For instance For starters, portraits can show the full figure of the person, or just the head, or any combination in between. A portrait can even focus on a specific part or region of the person's body, cropping out the rest.

A great example is this colored pencil drawing by Alan Magee , which shows a beautifully detailed portion of a woman's braid, with the rest of her profile fading into a ghostly silhouette. Another example is this fun and easy Henna Hand Designs Art Project , which shows you how to make a unique self-portrait featuring your hands! The pose is also important. There have even been portraits showing just the back of a person, such as Andrew Wyeth 's painting, Christina's World.

Another example of an unconventional pose for a portrait is Gerhard Richter 's painting of his daughter, Betty, in which she is turned away from the viewer.