Comments on: 13 Tips for Improving Outdoor Portraits

By: John Goss-Custard

John Goss-Custard — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:02:00 +0000

Wonderfully helpful article on taking portraits outside!

By: Joe Marfice

Joe Marfice — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:33:41 +0000

Just to clarify:
“A wide-angle lens necessarily is up close, if you’re taking a head shot”
means
“If you use a wide-angle lens to take a head shot, you are constrained to take the shot up-close (which will cause those problems I just mentioned).”

By: Joe Marfice

Joe Marfice — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:31:10 +0000

Ken, you’ve nailed it. For head shots, straight-on, a picture taken from up close exaggerates the nose, wrinkles, and may recede the chin as well (if taken from above center). A wide-angle lens necessarily is up close, if you’re taking a head shot.

However, most of his shots, even up close with wide angles, have a broader scope than the face. This one:
Joe McNally swimmer shot

is a perfect example. You can see how exaggerated the swimmer’s nose is – she might even be self-conscious and dislike this photo – but it’s a great shot! Because there’s so much there than just the face, you don’t dwell on facial proportions when you look at it.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:37:31 +0000

I appreciate and enjoyed the majority of your tips and I applaud you for your efforts to help people. The only thing I take issue with is the statement “Never shhot a portrait less than 50mm) Joe McNally is one of the wrolds most reknown portrait photographers and mentions in his website he shhots the majority with wide angle lenses. It is how close you stand andwhat type of portrait you are shooting. For headshots I agree with you, but for so many other portrait styles wide angle works great.

Check out Joes’s work here…http://portfolio.joemcnally.com/

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:12:24 +0000

Great tips. I shot a wedding (first time) last weekend, and followed some of these instinctively, but I wish I had read this first!

By: James pickett

James pickett — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:37:28 +0000

@ Fp Mulligan, excellent point for everyone with natural landmarks.

By: James pickett

James pickett — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:36:05 +0000

@david I personally always leave my camera set on 5400 deg K to simulate daylight film. I Like to see what the light actually would look like when i open the images in PS and do the WB with the gray card from there.

By: Zim

Zim — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:10:44 +0000

Thank you for the tips!

By: F. P. Mulligan

F. P. Mulligan — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:31:31 +0000

Correction to the compass tip: If you are shooting in an area where you have a large landmark, such as a mountain range, a compass is unnecessary. The landmark should be far enough away that there is no significant shift in direction when you move around in between shots. i.e.- I live in the Denver area, and so I always have the Rockies to the west. Thus, I can always estimate the sun’s direction based on the time of day, time of year, and the relative direction of the mountains. The great part about this technique is that it is hardwired into the brain, as landmark based navigation was an essential instinct before the days of maps, and thus intuitive and nearly automatic.

So just a little tip for those of you who weren’t Boy Scouts.

By: David

David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:46:51 +0000

Hey James.

I really liked the gray card / white balance tip in #6, but wanted some clarification.

I understand that you use PS to set the neutral gray value based off the card the model holds, but are you also setting up and shooting with a custom white balance during the shoot? Or, are you just shooting on auto white balance mode on location, and then letting PS do all the leg work later?

I guess the question is auto white balance and post processing compensation, or custom white balance on location, and post processing compensation.

Thanks!