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Learn Photography Basics
Photography tips for photographing people
Using models in your marketing material can quickly grab attention and make a connection with your audience. Let's face it – staring at a page with text and a pleasant looking model on it is much more appealing than staring at a page of plain text or even text with inanimate graphics. If you are not a photographer this article can help you evaluate portfolios of photographers for hire. Today's digital cameras may be able to auto-focus, auto-white balance, and auto-flash, but this certainly does not replace the need for a good eye for color and composition. If you are a photographer or want to try your hand then this learn photography basics article will get you going in the right direction. If you're an experienced photography then the photography tips for photographing people can help you make the most of your photo shoots with a model.
Photography Tips and Basics for Photographing People
Lighting
Lighting is of course a major factor in any photo shoot. The best light in the world is the light of the sun. Instead of shooting a model inside under artificial lights, consider having your shoot near large windows or outdoors. Light reflectors can help reduce extreme shadows. White walls or sheets can be effectively used in place of specialized photography reflectors. Using the flash in daylight can also help reduce dark shadows from the sun at close range.
Working with a Model
Having an experienced model will help. The model will know how to present themselves well, how to look good on film and how to strike a pose. Even so, having or being a confident photographer that can encourage and lead the model through various poses and expressions will go a long way. Doing a photo shoot is fun work. If the photographer and model are having fun on the shoot, it will show through in the finished photos.
Tips to the Model
There are several ways to make photos more engaging. Eye contact is certainly one one of the most powerful. Eye contact with the camera grabs people's attention and draws them in. A great smile is of course another draw. An open-mouth smile can be even more powerful. Huge open-mouthed smiles created by laughter are unmistakably appealing. The viewer gets a feeling of joy just by looking at such a smile. The model should also strike a pose and give enough time for the photographer to take a few shots before proceeding to the next pose.
Full Body Shots
When shooting a model, it is often advisable to take most of the photos with the full body of the model in the shot. As long as you are using high enough resolution equipment – which you should be – you can always crop to make a close-up. It is not so easy to make a close-up into full body shot. Make sure to keep toes and fingers intact when composing your shots.
Foreshortening
Foreshortening is what occurs when a limb is pointing straight to the camera. In general, it is a good idea to avoid shots with legs, arms, finger or bodies in general pointed straight to the camera, because it can make the body part look short and ill proportioned.
Background
Having a good background is essential to every model shoot. If you are planning to cut your photos out from the background, it makes the task much easier to have a solid color background like a white sheet or wall. If you intend to keep the background in your photos, then the background should be free from clutter and anything that might distract a viewer from the subject.
Check your Equipment
Make sure to have plenty of film, (or storage space as it is likely to be), extra batteries, and lens cleaner. This is pretty obvious, but make sure to know how to use your equipment prior to the shoot and have a background and location ready to go.
Take Many Photos
The more photos you take, the greater the chance of getting a fabulous shot. If you are a terrible photographer, all the photos in the world are not likely to produce a great shot, yet even for an expert,
having several hundred photos to choose from means a higher likelihood of getting a great shot
Video
Even if you are a one-person team, running a video camera at the shoot gives you that many more images to choose from. A high definition camera with progressive interlacing is capable of capturing photos at a rate of 29.9 per second that can be pulled off the camera as stills. Talk about choice and a lot of photos! The down side here is that the images will be high enough resolution for most brochures and certainly the web, but not for large posters or billboards.
Conclusion
Whatever your marketing methods, having a model can greatly increase the draw of you media. Whether you are selling anything from clothing to cars to business services, using a model will bring your media alive. With the help of a friendly face, a model can make your business more personal and human. We hope this article has helped you to learn photography basics with people.
Posted 11.27.06
by Tad Coffin
BusinessCreatorPro.com
Business Creator Pro offers complete business management tools and services, including photography and photo touch-up. Our friendly staff can also set you up with a professionally designed web site that is easy to update and manage yourself.
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