When talking about composition and inspiration,
it’s important that we give you some “know-how” in terms of how to set up your image and some references to inspire you. Why shouldn’t we start by giving you some great examples how your portraits could turn out.
Although Instagram and Pinterest are famous and useful websites when it comes to portrait research,we recommend just browsing through the web and search for inspiration.
Philippe Halsmans
iconic portraits of Dali and Marilyn Monroe. Halsman mostly used a clean, minimalist and artistic look and often took straight, “faceshots”. This specific style is a feature of him.
Arnold Newman
is an famous portrait photographer, whose signature picture is a portrait of Igor Stravinsky taken in 1946. His skill to show people in their working environnement and let them melt into the background is modern and minimalist.
Annie Leibovitz
is definitely worth a “follow” on Instagram. Her portraits are remarquable and attract a lot of attention.
Peter Lindbergh
is one of the most followed portrait photographers on Instagram. His photos express feelings and are dramatic, as well as dynamic.
Composition
is one of the most important things in portrait photography.
Use lines
Lines are often helpful when photographing people to guide the viewer’s sight. You can use them both vertically and horizontally, but also as diagonal line.
In this case, the line of the brick wall guide the viewer’s sight to the man in the background of the photograph.Â
Fill the frame with your subject
Think about your shot. Does it make sense? Is everything how you want it to be? YOU are the master of your craft. Make your shot relevant. Fill your frame with things that are in relation to one another. Always look for good compositions. Sometimes, that may be a face of your subject filling the whole frame. Be creative!Â
Use the rule of thirds
If you have the possibility to enable a “grid” on your camera, use it. Put your subject on these lines and your photos will become better immediately. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with centering your picture. You can shoot beautiful dead-centered pictures, but still, try it out. It never hurts to try something new.
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