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Features

15 Quick Tips to Getting Better Portraits

Chris Gampat
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10/03/2013
1 Min read

Last Updated on 10/03/2013 by Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Leica S2 Shoot at the loft redo (4 of 4)ISO 160

Want to take better portraits, but are just getting started? Here’s a quick roundup of 15 random tips to help you do that.


Focus on the Eyes, and Get Them Sharp

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It’s All About the Light

Chris-Gampat-The-Phoblographer-Sony-A99-review-images-29-of-32ISO-400

Find the Person’s Longer Shoulder, and Position Them to Even it Out

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Impact Quikbox and LiteTrek photos (5 of 17)ISO 160

They Don’t Always Need to Look Straight Into the Camera

Chris Gampat Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L II USM review photos of Matt (11 of 11)ISO 100

Go In With a Vision

Final Umbrella Image of Grace by Chris Gampat (1 of 1)ISO 2001-30 sec at f - 5.6

Play with the Rule of Thirds

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Olympus EM5 Link Cosplay shoot (7 of 23)ISO 200

Don’t Put the Sun in Front of Your Subject

Chris-Gampat-The-Phoblographer-Sony-A99-images-with-135mm-f1.8-4-of-8ISO-400

When They’re Backlit, Overexpose Your Image By 2/3rds

Chris Gampat Kathy Supa portraits in the West Village edited (4 of 17)

Look Out For The Color of the Lighting

Chris-Gampat-The-Phoblographer-Canon-35mm-f2-IS-image-samples-8-of-9ISO-1001-200-sec-at-f-2.8-680x453

Use Your Environment to Bounce Light Into the Shadows

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Retouches of Dave Shim (6 of 6)ISO 320

Use Body Language to Convey the Feeling

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer RoundFlash and OCF Gear Cord Test With Jill (3 of 15)_PerfectlyClear_0001

Medium Format Is King for Wide Portraits

Chris-Gampat-The-Phoblographer-Film-scans-27-of-74

Figure Out What Light Modifier You Need

Lighting Infographic_v72

Put Your Subject Into a Specific Mental State to Get the Right Facial Expressions

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 VC headshots (2 of 3)ISO 2001-125 sec at f - 5.6

You Can Do Some Cool Things with Fisheye Lenses

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Panasonic GH3 studio fun (4 of 6)ISO 2001-50 sec at f - 4.0

Bonus: And When it Comes to Dogs, Get Low

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sigma DP3 review images extras (16 of 20)ISO 4001-800 sec at f - 2.8

 

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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